


Listen To Those Gut Feelings (They May Just Save Your Life)

by erialc_raeb



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Letters, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, No Incest, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow To Update, Time Travel, Torture, Vietnam War, its not something i can get behind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2020-08-11 13:16:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 39,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20154223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erialc_raeb/pseuds/erialc_raeb
Summary: What if Klaus went back in time and he was the one that got shot in the Vietnam war?





	1. March 27th, 2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, hi! This is just the prologue and we'll dive deeper in the next chapter. I'm super excited for this I have so many plans! :)

_‘A hand rubbed my back as I puked into a bucket for probably the fourth time that night. I didn’t know who it was but I had a pretty good idea since there’d be only one person willing to put up with my bullshit. Look, all I can say is that I’m not even supposed to be here. And puking my guts up wasn’t on the to do list either I’ll have you know.’_

_~~~March 27th, 2019~~~_

Klaus was in the bath, headphones on and oblivious to the world around him. So, you could say he was caught a little off guard when a masked criminal jumped him from behind, duct taped his hands and feet together and then shoved him in the back of their car. He didn’t know how long he laid there in the dark after they had stopped driving, but when the trunk reopened and Klaus saw that there was another one, he knew he was more than a little fucked.

They tortured him for hours. They asked about Five but he truly didn’t know anything that they were asking about. The lady was the scarier of the two and anything she could get her hands on was turned into something to harm Klaus.

“Number Five, where is he?” She demanded, a chord wrapped tightly around Klaus’s throat and getting tighter by the second.

“Don’t-” Klaus choked out. His leg was bouncing either from pleasure or pain and it was lost on him which one that was at this point. These people had been going at it for how long now and they hadn’t figured out that he had been getting off on it. If they were going to torture him, Klaus was at least going to have a little fun with it.

“Stop… I’m almost there.” Klaus grunted and his whole body shook with release.

“Is that a…?” The lady asked and Klaus could hear the man approach from behind to take a look.

“Yep.” The one with the blue mask said, quickly turning back around as the one with the pink mask dropped the chord. But it was too late and Klaus was coughing and gasping to catch his breath. The two assassins sat down on different beds in defeat.

“Oh!” Klaus groaned. “Ah, there’s nothin’ like a little… Stranglin’ to get the blood flowin’, am I right?” His whole body shook and he laughed to himself.

“What is so funny, you asshole?” The man quickly got up and smacked Klaus’s forehead from behind.

“Ow!” He exclaimed. “Well, for one… You spent the last ten hours… Beating me senseless, and… You’ve learned absolutely nothing.” Klaus decided that the shaking was from withdrawals, god did he need a hit of something.

“I mean, nobody tells me shit. The truth is, I’m the one person in that house nobody will even notice is gone. You assholes kidnapped the wrong guy!” Klaus laughed to cover up the realization that just smacked him in the face. No one was coming for him, he was going to die here. The blue one smacked his head again.

“Ow! I’m sorry, okay?” Klaus curled in on himself as much as he could while tied to a chair.

“Please make him stop talking.” The man said to the wall.

“Let’s waterboard him.” The scary one was already putting a towel over his face.

“No-” Klaus grunted and then water was being poured quickly over his mouth and nose. He gasped for any breath he could get. When the water stopped and the towel was starting to be pulled away he swallowed all the water in his mouth and sucked more water from the bloody towel before it was taken away.

“Ah! Oh, I needed that.” Klaus smiled feeling quite refreshed.

“Come on!” The blue one shouted, throwing something.

“I was…” Klaus burped. “...So parched. Thank you.” He laughed again. “Thank you.”

“Oh, God, this is brutal.” Hazel said stepping into the bathroom with Cha-Cha. “What the hell is wrong with that guy?” He braced himself on the bathroom sink.

“He’s a freak like his brother.” Cha-Cha leaned in the doorway.

“Everyone else in that house.” Hazel splashed water on his face. “Just another example of management stickin’ it to the working man.”

“Come on, not this again.” Cha-Cha gestured with her mask.

“They shouldn’t warned up this was an atypical assignment.” Hazel sat himself on the side of the tub. “Hello? Hazard pay?”

“Come on. We do the job and we move to the next. Just like we always do.” Cha-Cha could see her partner start to lose hope. “Remember Trinidad? We worked that guy solid for what? Two days, two nights?”

Hazel clicked his tongue. “How could I forget Trinidad?”

“Attaboy. Let’s go.” Cha-Cha turns to leave and Hazel lets out a sigh before putting his mask back on.

“All right! Come on, Hazel!” He stormed out of the bathroom.

Ultimately their attempts weren’t enough and they had hit another wall. In all of their years in The Commission they had never once come across a man like Klaus.

“Maybe you’re not hitting him hard enough.” Hazel said.

“Me? You’re the one with the stupid orthopedic bracelet.” Cha-Cha shot back.

“I told you already, it’s just for support.”

Klaus could hear a woman speaking Russian behind him, not that he dared to turn around to look.

“Withdrawal… It’s starting now, isn't it? Must be.” Ben stood in front of Klaus. “Otherwise, who’s the dead babushka?” She continued to speak at the shaded window.

“I don’t know, but it’s driving me crazy.” Klaus sighed. “The bitch won’t shut up!” He seethed.

“Hey! Watch your mouth. What did I say about eyes front?” The blue one shouted.

Ben sighed. “Stay calm, Klaus.”

“Maybe we’re going at this the wrong way. Remember section 76, sub A, of the training manual?” Cha-Cha asked.

“I barely remember what we had for breakfast at this point.” Hazel brushed his partner off.

“To paraphrase, torturing works best when you know who you’re torturing. Hand me his coat.” They put their masks back on and grabbed his coat.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…” Klaus trailed off when they picked up his jacket and began to dig in the pockets.

“Let’s see.” The pink one said with a hand shoved deep in a pocket.

“What are you doing? That’s mine. That’s my personal stuff.” Klaus started to panic.

“Oh! What do we have here?” The pink one held up some small plastic baggies.

“Let me see that.” The blue one said and the woman tossed it over.

“Hey, no, no, no, no. Be-- Be careful with that. It’s-- It’s my… Asthma medication.” Klaus lied.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” The blue one tossed the baggies on the ground.

“Hey… No, hey! Whoa!” Klaus yelled as the blue one stomped on all the pills, smashing them into the carpet. “No, hey, hold on! Hold on! We can have a conversation. We’re adults.”

“Okay, you want more?” The blue one threw more pills to the ground.

“No! No!” Klaus and the chair started bouncing up and down. “No, no, no! Stop! Stop! Please, listen. Listen, I can… I can get you cash.” He bargained. “Amputee hookers, whatever. “Hey, just, please, just listen. Just don’t… No… Please…”

The blue one opened his ‘special’ chocolate bar. “Chocolate. Mm-mm-mm!”

“Please…” Klaus gasped.

The man put a piece of chocolate in his mouth under his mask. “You want a piece?”

“You gonna tell him that it’s special chocolate?” Ben asked from over by the desk.

“Not until they’re high as kites.” Klaus blinked hard, the Russain woman still talking by the window.

“Klaus, be strong.” Ben encouraged.

“This could all be yours for the low, low price of telling us everything.” The scary one waved a baggie of weed over his face.

“Okay, fine.” Klaus cried softly and looking over to the spot where Ben used to be. “Okay, I don’t… I don’t know where Five is. I wasn’t lying about that. But I can tell you that he’s… Hasn’t-- Hasn’t been making much sense since he came back.”

“Elaborate.” The blue one waved a hand.

“I… Uh… He’s just… He’s been acting like a-- A-- A lunatic. He’s been sitting in this van in front of a-- A lab or something, and… Looking for the owner of an eyeball. One of those fake ones.” Klaus stammered out.

“That makes no sense.” The man said shaking his head.

“Hold on, just hold on. Tell us more about this eye, and why is it so important?” The woman walked in front of him and sat where Ben used to be.

“He said it had something to do with the end of times, or something.” Klaus said defeatedly.

That must have been enough for them because the next thing Klaus knew, he was being shoved into a closet. And all of a sudden he was being transported back to his childhood when his father shoved him in the mausoleum.

_“Dad, let me out!” He shouted over the screams and pleads of ghosts. “Dad!” Klaus let out a screech that he hoped was louder than the ghosts._

He was back in the closet, screaming through the duct tape over his mouth. Klaus couldn’t see him, but he knew Ben was behind him.

“Klaus. Klaus. Breathe.” Ben comforted his brother while he yelled through tape. “You’re in the worst of it now. Just try and stay calm.” Klaus’s whole body shook and sweat ran down his face.

A vacuum cleaner clicked on from inside the room and Klaus went quiet before letting out louder screams that the cleaning lady couldn’t hear over her headphones.

“She can’t hear you.” Ben said as Klaus started to whine. “You’re stuck. Nowhere to go.” Klaus didn’t think that this was the best time to be having this conversation with his brother but he couldn’t exactly tell him to stop.

“Nowhere to change. That’s the real torture, if you gotta know. Watching your brother take for granted everything you lost.” Klaus stopped screaming, tears running down his face as he looked at his brother from over his shoulder with a sad look. “And pissing it all away.” Klaus sniffled and turned away from his brother and the whimpering started again.

Klaus didn’t know how long he sat there but it was dark by the time his two torturers got back. They opened the closet door, neither one wearing a mask and Klaus knew he was going to die.

The man dragged him out of the closet whimpering and groaning. Klaus tried to say something but the tape over his mouth muffled his speech.

“What’s he saying?” The man asked. The woman reached over and ripped the tape off his mouth.

“What are you sayin’?” The scary one asked.

“You guys are scarier without the masks.” Klaus laughed to himself and the woman slapped his face.

“That’s no way to say hello to your old friends, is it?” The man glared and shoved hands in his pockets.

“Can’t we call it a night? I already gave you what you wanted. Just, please… Please let me go. Please.” Klaus begged.

“Well, technically, we want you brother. Is you brother here now?” The woman asked.

Klaus groaned again. “Uh, he…” He looked over to the bed where Ben was laying. “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific on that.” Klaus chuckled and Ben winked at him. This earned him another slap across the face.

“Ow! I told you already. He’s not coming. No one will.” Klaus pouted.

“Well, Number Five knows now. We left him a message. And when he comes for you, we’ll be ready.” The woman said as the man turned his chair to face the door.

“This…” Klaus trailed off.

_The sound of metal scraping against concrete made him pick his head up from his knees. Klaus saw the silhouette of his father in the doorway of the mausoleum._

_“Welcome back to the land of the living, Number Four.” His father said and Klaus sat up and on his knees._

_“Can I go now?” He asked hopefully._

_“Have you overcome your fear of the dead?” Reginald Hargreeves asked. Klaus tried to nod but his father saw right through him. “You must become the master of your own life, Number Four. Or it will become the master of you.” Reginald Hargreeves began to walk out the door._

_“Please, I wanna go home.” Klaus begged, trying not to cry._

_“Three more hours.” His father said walking out._

_“No! Don’t leave me.” Klaus cried as the door slammed shut again. “Go away.” Klaus told a ghost calling his name. The screeching continued. “Dad!”_

Klaus panted as he was brought out of his memories.

“You went there again, didn’t you?” Ben asked while sitting on the floor.

“No, no, no, no…” Klaus whimpered not looking at his brother. The dead Russain lady was back and she hobbled over to the woman. She cried and pleaded in Russain, a language Klaus didn’t know.

She looked at Klaus and he could finally see the gunshot wound in the side of her head. “Oh, Jesus.” Klaus said looking away quickly.

“Look at her.” Ben demanded. “At how she’s looking at them. She’s one of their victims.” Klaus slowly turned back to look at her. “We can use this. Go on. You haven’t been this sober since you were a teenager, since you decided to keep the ghosts at bay. This is you chance, Klaus. To control them, learn their secrets. Try to talk to her.”

Klaus turned his head. “Hi… Hi!” He said, gaining the woman’s attention. “Hi, uh… What’s your name?” He asked.

“Zoya Popova.” The woman whimpered.

“Oh! That’s a lovely name. And can you tell me what happened?” Klaus gestured to the two assassins with his shoulder.

“What happened is if you don’t shut up, I’mma cut your tongue out with a grapefruit spoon.” The scary one threatened.

“Zoya Popova.” Klaus said matter of factly.

“What did he say?” The man asked.

“Zoya Popova?” The woman questioned her male partner.

“Old Russain broad, short, with a limp.” Klaus laughed. “Oh, she’s really pissed at you guys.” He let out a long whistle.

One by one more of their victims appeared and started talking over each other.

“She chopped my hands off and let me bleed to death in the bathtub.” One man yelled.

One woman spoke to him in Mandarin. “He took me to a temple, slashed my throat, watched me bleed out.” She sobbed.

Another woman screamed at him in Farsi. “She crept into my room, put a pillow over my face, and told me now to bother praying.”

A man behind him spoke next. “They attached jumper cables to my nipples and shocked me for hours.

Someone in front of him that looked like he was run over joined in. “He pretended to have car trouble, and when I stopped to help, he ran me over. Uh… Forward, reverse.” He sighed. “Then he saw my wife waiting for me in the car. She ran.”

“Just shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up. Everybody, just… Everybody just shut up, please shut up.” Klaus groaned. “Jesus, you guys are worse than the drugs.”

“How could he possibly know about Zoya Popova?” Hazel asked sticking his gun into the waistband of his pants.

“Maybe he guessed, I don’t know.” Cha-Cha snapped angrily and did the same with her own gun.

“Who cares? She’s dead.” Hazel walked to the back wall.

“You need to focus. That little psycho could show up any minute. Or do you want to be docked pay again, go back and tell ‘em we couldn’t hack it, face those consequences? Pull it together, now!” Cha-Cha threatened.

“Swiss Alps, huh?” Klaus asked the man who was run over. The male assassin turned his chair around again. “Which one are you? Cha-Cha or Hazel?” He asked.

“Hazel.” He replied like it mattered.

“Jan Mueller. Remember him?” Their victims started to crowd around them. “Swiss Alps. Him and his wife were coming back for a ski trip.” Klaus waited for a response.

“I remember.” Cha-Cha piped up. “Forward. Reverse!”

Klaus chuckled. “Yeah, that’s it! Yeah! And his wife… Escaped down an alleyway. He says to say thank you.”

Cha-Cha turns to her male counterpart. “What’s he talking about?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” Hazel was a little too tense to be telling the truth.

“He was so grateful to you, Hazel, for having spared his wife.” Klaus shook his head. “You know, there may be hope for him yet. Don’t you think?” He turned to Cha-Cha and asked. They were now unknowingly surrounded by all of their victims.

“Bathroom, now!” Cha-Cha demanded. Klaus watched the two disappear behind the door.

“Nicely done.” Ben complimented with a smile.

“Thank you.” Klaus soaked up the praise.

His two kidnappers argued in the bathroom for a while before Cha-Cha reappeared and put a strip of tape back over his mouth. She tells him to shut up before disappearing into the bathroom again.

Now was his chance. Klaus shimmied his chair to face the door, what dumbasses those two were for not tying his legs to the chair. He heard footsteps approach the door and a shadow of a person pass the window.

With as much energy as he could conjure, he let out muffled screams. He starts to bang his head on the table in front of him over and over again. Over his own head banging he can’t hear the footsteps anymore and he lets out a defeated whimper before laying his head on the table and sobbing.

But then the door opens! Klaus lets out a relieved whimper.

“Are you Diego’s brother?” She asks in a whisper.

Klaus nods his head and lets out a muffled, “Yeah.”

“I’m Detective Patch.” She says. Klaus nods his head in the direction of the bathroom with a yelp. Patch cuts his hands free and helps him up. The door to the bathroom opens and she pulls him behind her and takes her gun out.

Hazel appears in the doorway and holds his gun out. Patch ducks Klaus’s head and she shoots at him. Klaus dives for the bed and he goes in full blown panic mode as Patch shouts at the assassins.

Klaus finds his jacket on the bed and he grabs it. The vent was easy enough to open and by some dumb look there’s a briefcase sitting inside of it. There has to be _something_ in there for him to pawn off so he takes it before scrambling inside the vent.

He hears a gunshot but he doesn’t have time to turn back and see whos body was lying on the ground. He needed to get out and that’s what he did.

Klaus made it onto the bus and he was home free! He pulled his jacket on and sighed in relief while clutching the briefcase desperately. He laughed to himself. “Oh!” Klaus made eye contact with the woman sitting across from him and looks down at his legs. He winks at her and she gives him a surprised smile. He smiles back at her easily.

Klaus rubs the case. “Oh! Please be money.” He let out a pained groan. “Only money. Or… Treasure. Diamonds.” He fiddles with the numbers and the catches click.

_~~A Shau Valley, Vietnam. 1968~~_

He lands with a thud on the ground and he lets out a pained yell. “Damn it!” He gasped. The sound of a helicopter flying low could be heard from… Wherever he was. He sat up and made eye contact with one of the most beautiful men he’d laid eyes on.

Before he could say anything there was an explosion and then shouting.

“Incoming!” Someone yelled over all the noise.

“Go time, ladies! Charlies on the wire!” Klaus scrambled to get up.

“Move it! All right, go! Come on!” A third man screamed as a siren wailed. “You got mud in your ears, boy? Get dressed!” The man yelled at him specifically.

“No, I’m-- I’m not--” Klaus tried to explain himself, he really did.

“War’s not gonna wait for you to get pretty!” The same man yelled. “Chaz, get this man operational. And get him a pair of pants! Let’s go!”

Someone tosses him a pair of pants and he quickly pulls them on.

“Do you think I have time to waste? Get him a gun!” Klaus looked at the man with a terrified expression. “Don’t look at me, get those pants on!” There’s another explosion and then someone is slapping a helmet on his head.

Then they’re on a bus, he sits alone not wanting to bother anyone. The situation seemed grim and usually Klaus would have no problem cracking a joke or two but even he knew that this wasn’t the time.

A hand landed on his shoulder and the beautiful man from before is there behind him.

“You just get in country?” He asks.

“Oh, uh…” Klaus stammers out. For the first time in his life he’s been left speechless. “Yeah.” Is all he can conjure up to say. They both chuckle softly.

“Yeah, shit’s crazy. I know.” The pretty man says.

“Yeah!” Klaus agrees weakly.

“You’ll adjust.” He says and Klaus swears he looked him up and down. He holds his hand out to Klaus. “I’m Dave.”

Dave. What a beautiful name for a beautiful man. And if it were under any other circumstances, Klaus would have told him that.

Klaus clasps his hand in Dave's and leans forward a little. “Klaus.” Underneath the seat Klaus kicks the briefcase further into hiding. What did he get himself into this time?


	2. May, 1968

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus is starting to get the hang of this whole 'being in the Vietnam war' thing.  
(Mentioned drug use in this chapter)

_~~~May, 1968~~~_

Days started to blend together in a sweaty haze that only the heat of the jungle could cause. It’s a scary thing finding yourself in a new world that you know nothing about.

Klaus was currently unceremoniously throwing up inside of a bush and not for the first time that day. The overwhelming humidity of the jungle wasn’t just good for making days go by quickly, but also for getting sober. And it was terrible!

“Ah… Fuck.” Klaus groaned and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stood up straight on shaky legs and walked back to camp. Klaus joined Dave and his friends where they were eating dinner. He sat down and put his face in his hands.

“That bad, huh?” Tommy asked not even looking up from his food, if you could even call it food that is.

Dave took note of Klaus’s shaking form. “Not feeling well, Klaus?” He asked.

“From the looks of it Spook hasn’t felt good in a while.” Bill snorted.

‘Spook’ was the nickname Klaus had received in the first week he had been in 1968. He was so on edge when he got there that he jumped whenever anyone got close to him or caught him off guard. So he was henceforth known as, ‘Spook’. It wasn’t something that Klaus enjoyed to be called but he didn’t exactly have any say in it.

“Fuck off.” Klaus grumbled and finally moved his hands away from his face. Everyone could see his flushed cheeks.

"You look like shit, Spook." Gary never held anything back now did he?

"Really? And after I went through all that trouble making myself look pretty for y'all." Klaus deadpanned.

Gary lit up a joint and took a drag before offering it to Klaus. "You look like you could use some of this." Klaus took it gratefully and they took turns passing it back and forth.

It wasn't much but Klaus would take anything he could get at this point. He hasn't had anything strong enough to keep him pleasantly numb since he got kidnapped, and since those dickbags emptied out his coat he had nothing to keep the ghosts away.

And speaking of ghosts… Ben was nowhere to be found. So basically, his conscience was MIA and had taken their shared brain cell with him, and his own dumbass was too hung up on where this could possibly go with Dave to even consider going back to the future. If Ben were here he'd talk Klaus's ear off until he went back to 2019.

And it's not like Klaus stayed awake every night contemplating whether or not he should just make a run for it and head back, or was it for the nightmares? That was the other thing. Klaus's nightmares would follow him anywhere and after the first night of waking everyone up accidentally with his screaming he was more than willing to stay up.

Once the joint was finished Klaus's head felt a little bit clearer than before. "Anyone got anything stronger?" He asked.

No one did so he got up with the intention of catching a few hours of sleep before anyone else got there so he didn't disturb anyone. Someone grabbed his arm on his way there.

"You lookin' for some Dope?" He whispered. In the dark Klaus couldn't see who it was but he recognized that voice. It was Wayne. Wayne was overall pretty quiet, kept to himself for the most part. But he's been told a few stories of how Wayne could get at the clubs.

Klaus didn't hesitate to answer. "You lookin' to sell?"

"Me? No, I just scout out the users. If you need somethin' find Don. Tell him I sent you and he'll hook you up nice." That's all Wayne says before disappearing into the darkness.

That was all Klaus needed to hear. It wasn't too hard to find Don in the end, he was hanging out by the tent playing cards by himself. Klaus stood in front of him.

"What do you want, Spook?" Don asked impatiently.

"Wayne told me you got some Grass." Klaus takes a seat in front of Don.

Don snorts. "Somethin' tells me you're after something a little better than Mary Jane." Don puts his cards down and crosses his arms over his chest.

"You would be correct." Klaus was getting excited now.

Don seemed to be thinking about something. "Tell ya what, Spook. I got some Black Beauties comin' in soon that I think would do you some good. I don't appreciate being woken up by your damn screaming all the time. But until then you can have these. You gotta make 'em last until my supply comes in though so don't be askin' for anymore until then, got it?"

In the darkness Don handed him two plastic baggies and without even looking at them Klaus pocketed them.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Klaus said with a smile and then left with his haul.

He went into the tent and made a beeline for his cot. Don had given him weed and a little bit of coke. Klaus could make do with this, yeah. He could do this.

Klaus couldn't do this. He had tried to make his supply last, he really did. But the more shit he saw, the more he needed to drown out. He kept his word though on not asking Don for more, but his own patience for this incoming supply was wearing thin.

Dave took notice of this and decided to take matters into his own hands. Whenever Klaus had a nightmare he took it upon himself to be the one to wake him up. If he saw Klaus's hands start to shake, he'd offer to share a joint.

That was another thing. Everyone seemed to have cigarettes on them except for Klaus. Either he got them and blew through them right away, or he just didn't have any. The second one seemed to be the most likely since Dave never saw Klaus smoking alone.

Dave knew that Klaus was getting supply from Don, almost everyone did. But that wasn't shit you shared with others.

"Have you ever considered just getting sober?" Dave had asked once while they were on night patrols and passing a cigarette between them. It was a quiet night so they sat under a tree with their backs against it.

Klaus sighed and Dave almost regretted asking at all. Almost.

"Yeah. Even done the rehab." Klaus pushed up the sleeve of his army jacket and held up his arm to show off his white medical bracelet that he had yet to take off. "Shit just doesn't work for me. There's always something waiting around the corner to suck you back in and offer an easy release. And sometimes it's just easier to block it all out than face your ghosts, you know?"

Dave didn't, but his heart wept for this obviously broken man. He had so many questions for Klaus but didn’t know how to ask them without scaring him off.

"You mean face your demons?" Dave asked and wanted to punch himself. Out of all the questions bubbling up in his mind, _that_ was the one that his dumbass decided to come up with?

Klaus looked at him with a confused expression. "Hm?"

"You said face your ghosts." Dave took a drag trying to play it off.

"Davey, I wish it were demons. They'd at least be fun." Klaus chuckled. “Tell me about yourself now.” Klaus changed the subject. That was something he was really good at, taking the attention off of himself.

“What do you want to know?” Dave accepted the cigarette Klaus held out to him with a smile.

“Hm, let me think. Got any siblings?” Klaus crossed one leg over the other.

Dave chuckled. “Yeah actually. Two younger sisters, Julie and Stephanie. What about you?”

“I got a few, six in fact.” Klaus said casually and Dave looked at him with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. Klaus just shrugs.

“Are you older, younger or in the middle?” Dave finally asked and Klaus gave him a look.

“Dave I thought we were talking about you here.” Klaus took his helmet off and held it in his arms.

Dave did the same with his own helmet. “Humor me.”

And Klaus did. For some reason Dave was just easy to talk to and Klaus didn’t know how to turn the emotions off.

“We’re all the same age and have the same birthday. Our Dad adopted all of us but we are in no way related whatsoever. There’s Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben and Vanya. Four brothers and two sisters. Don’t ask about Five’s name because it’s hard to explain.

“It was rough fighting for attention in our house and until our Mom came along no one really gave a shit about us. We existed together in that household for publicity only and we knew that, my father was a billionaire you know.” Klaus said casually.

“What!?” Dave exclaimed.

“Oh yeah Baby, you’re looking at a trust fund kid right here.” Klaus chuckled using both of his thumbs to point at himself.

That confused Dave greatly. If Klaus’s father was so wealthy, then why hadn’t he done anything to help his own son with his addiction?

“Of course, I won’t see a single cent of it until I get sober enough to prove that I won’t just spend it all on drugs. Could you just imagine it Dave? All the shit I could buy with millions of dollars?” Klaus just smiled to himself.

“Well, you have a while until you need to worry about that.” Dave assured.

“Oh no, that bastard is dead. Good fucking riddance I say. Luther thinks someone killed him but everyone else thinks that the dickwad just expired and kicked the bucket.”

Now Dave was more confused than before. “I’m sorry, Klaus. When did he pass?”

“A week before I got here. God am I glad to be out of that house, such a depressing air about the place.” The way Klaus talked about his dead father made Dave think that there was something Klaus wasn’t telling him, but he decided against pushing him on it.

More of these chats happened over time and each time Dave felt like he left with more questions than he had answered. They bonded greatly over these chats and Klaus found himself looking forward to them.

When Don's supply finally came in Klaus almost cried tears of joy. He was hooked up with the Black Beauties -- speed that would help keep him awake -- as well as some more weed and coke. Don even threw in a few cigs for him too. Klaus would've kissed the man of it wouldn't have gotten him shot.

The pills gave him the head rush that he was looking for and they did in fact keep him awake as promised and Klaus has never felt better. They gave him an extra boost of confidence that he didn’t know he needed.

One day during mealtime Scott asked him about his tattoos. They were something that everyone was curious about so all attention was turned to Klaus.

“Oh, these?” Klaus held up his hands to show off the ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ that was permanently inked on the palms. “Well I’m a human Ouija board of course.” He said like it was obvious.

“What the fuck does that mean, Spook?” Timmy who was sat at a different table asked.

Klaus sighed. “It means that I can talk to the dead.” He rolled his eyes and tried to go back to his food.

“And what about the other one? The umbrella?” Scott piped up again.

“Ah, the biggest mistake of my life. The constant reminder that I am nothing but a number in my father’s eyes? That one?” Klaus snarled.

“Well gentlemen if you must know my siblings and I fought crime as kids and we have superpowers! This is kind of our our ‘Bat Signal’.” Klaus held up jazz hands and then rolled up a sleeve to show off his left arm.

“You’re full of shit, Spook.” Randy called him out and rolled his eyes.

“No! I’m serious. We’re called the Umbrella Academy and we save the world!” Klaus was hamming it up now but everything he was going to tell them was true.

If he didn’t have a full audience before he sure did now.

“My brother Luther is super strong and can lift anything without breaking a sweat. My brother Diego can hold his breath forever and can throw anything perfectly and hit any target. My sister Allison can alter reality with a simple phrase. I can see dead people. My brother Five can spacial jump and time travel. My brother Ben has a monster living in his stomach. And my sister Vanya is really good at playing the violin but doesn’t have any powers.” Klaus then began to tell the story of the Umbrella Academy.

“On October 1st in a year that doesn’t particularly matter or make sense at the moment, 43 women all around the world gave birth. This was unusual in a sense that none of these women were pregnant when the day had first began.”

His audience was captivated, hanging off his every word. It felt good to be listened to, to be able to tell this story without having to worry about someone already knowing it by heart or saying, “Hey you’re that Umbrella kid!”

“Eccentric _Billionaire_ Reginald Hargreeves -- that’s my Father -- sought to collect as many children as he could. He got seven.”

No one here wanted his autograph, no one here wanted his sister’s phone number, no one here wanted him to demonstrate his powers. Everyone here thought that he was just telling a really good story. Of course no one believed him but no one told him to stop. It was the most entertainment they’d had in a long time.

When Klaus was finished storytelling for the day -- he didn’t spill the whole story, he had to leave something to the imagination if he was going to keep them coming back for more -- he got several compliments from his brothers in arms at his ‘imaginative story’ and that he should publish a book.

Oh boy, if they knew that his sister already did that and how it turned out...


	3. June, 1968

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a lot of Dave being there for Klaus when he gets into trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to get this out a lot sooner but the weekend was hectic and that carried over to Monday as well. But here's the chapter and I hope you enjoy!

_~~~June, 1968~~~_

Most of the guys found that it was easy to be friends with Klaus. He lightened the mood, told great stories and was an all around great guy who sometimes needed a little reminder to calm down at times. Unfortunately, not everyone felt that way though.

There was a group of guys that just didn’t like Klaus. Didn’t like his personality or his stories and thought he was annoying and way too touchy.

Klaus tried to convince himself that it was just because he was the new guy. But once their attacks got more and more personal it became clear that this was targeted. Dave tried to reassure him and told him to ignore it but it was difficult when they were louder than the ghosts.

Their favorite form of hazing was when Klaus was eating. They would sneak up behind him and scare him so he would choke and then he would have hiccups for a while. This was a problem when he had to go out on patrols and he kept having to hide his hiccups.

Klaus never did anything to stop them, until one day…

Rough hands grabbed the back of his neck scaring him and almost making him fall out of his seat. Klaus turned around to look at a cackling Eddie. Luckily he didn’t start hiccuping this time -- He would take the small victory -- but Eddie didn’t like that.

Klaus had had enough. Two months of being pushed around by this jackass and he was fed up. Usually Dave was there to stop him but this time he was all the way across the camp so there went his conscience… Perfect.

He stood up and pushed up the sleeves of his jacket. God that was annoying, he’d have to do something about that at some point…

“You got a problem with me?” Klaus bit angrily at Eddie who just laughed in his face. "I said, you got a problem with me?"

They had now captured the attention of at least half of their brothers in arms and they looked ready to place some bets.

Klaus was tall but still pretty scrawny compared to Eddie who easily had at least 40 pounds on him with muscle alone. It was obvious who was more likely to win in a fight but luckily Klaus had a few tricks up his sleeves that he had yet to unveil.

“And what are you gonna do about it, Spook?” Eddie snarled and used his already hated nickname in a threatening way, which he found he hated even more when it came out of Eddie’s mouth.

Klaus smiled to himself and cracked his knuckles and his neck before pretending to walk away. But then he whipped back around and landed a solid punch to Eddie’s jaw to catch him off guard in one swift motion.

Some of the guys shouted and cheered since they were finally getting some entertainment after a boring day.

Eddie had stumbled back clearly not expecting that kind of power behind that one punch. He recovered quickly and threw a few punches that Klaus managed to dodge -- he had always been better at dodging than actually fighting.

They circled each other before Eddie managed to land a punch right to his ribcage. It knocked the wind out of Klaus and he had to quickly catch his breath to avoid another punch aimed directly at his face.

He ducked under the fist and he kicked a leg out at the back of Eddie’s knees to knock him down to the ground. Eddie let out a shocked yell as he hit the ground. The audience around them let out more shouts and cheers.

Klaus rose to his feet and made eye contact with a shocked looking Dave who must have run over in all the commotion. Before Klaus could make his way over to him Eddie grabbed his ankle and yanked Klaus onto the ground with him. Klaus’s face hit the ground and he felt blood started to gush out of his nose.

Klaus pushed himself up and stood in front of Eddie who was taunting him again. He wiped his nose and spread the blood over to his cheek. With the same bloody hand Klaus threw a punch at Eddie’s nose that landed with a satisfying crunch.

Eddie’s hand flies up to cradle his nose, wincing in pain. He lets out a yell -- not a very stealthy tactic -- before charging at Klaus who lifts his leg and pushes against Eddie’s chest with his foot. Eddie lands on his ass on the ground and doesn’t get back up.

Eddie is panting and has fire in his eyes but makes no move to get up and continue the fight. Klaus stares down at the large man sitting in front of him and without saying anything he walks towards Dave who leads him away from the crowd. They go back to the tent where Dave proceeds to patch Klaus’s face up.

“Think they’ll leave me alone now?” Klaus asks with a chuckle to break the silence.

Dave cleans the blood off of his face as gently as he could without bumping his nose. Klaus sat as still as he could as Dave did this.

“You shouldn’t be so reckless. Eddie probably could have killed you. You’re lucky that you actually know how to fight or he would have without a second thought.”

Klaus hadn’t thought about that, he was just so fed up with the teasing and the hazing that he just wanted it all to stop. He had gotten enough of that shit from his siblings over the years and he didn’t need any of it following him all the way to Vietnam of all places.

“My… My Dad.” Klaus finally says. Dave finally makes eye contact with Klaus and stops dabbing at his face.

“He trained my siblings and I how to fight. The training started when we were young so we had been taught how to fight someone bigger than us. And as we got older and bigger we fought even larger guys.” Klaus started to explain.

Dave gave Klaus his full attention.

“My sister Vanya and I were more liabilities than assets to the family so we were mostly taught to block.” Klaus goes quiet.

“Your Dad sounds like a real jackass.” Dave finally says and starts wiping at Klaus’s face again. This jab at Reginald Hargreeves brought a smile to Klaus’s face.

Klaus grabs Dave’s wrist gently in his non-bruised hand.

“Why are you so damn nice to me all the time?” He asks with a confused look on his face.

Dave’s mouth opens and closes like a fish a few times before he takes his free hand and rests it on top of Klaus’s head with a sigh and a smile.

“Because you look like you haven’t had a friend in a long time.”

Dave gets up and walks out of the tent leaving Klaus alone on his cot to ask himself what the fuck just happened and why the hell his heart was pounding so much.

Over the next few days Klaus received pats on the back for ‘taking Eddie down off his high horse’. And Eddie and the others that disliked him steered pretty much clear of Klaus.

If they made eye contact they would nod at each other but no words were exchanged. A wordless agreement to keep it civil and that they had no more beef between them.

The food was another problem. Klaus had absolutely no issue with it, and that was the problem according to his friends. He never complained and always finished everything he was given even when it was particularly inedible. He was like a human garbage disposal…

Everyone was concerned with the way Klaus guarded his food, like he was afraid that someone was going to take it away from him unless he scarfed the whole thing down at once. He also didn’t want to talk to anyone until he was finished.

And it probably wouldn’t have been a problem if you excluded those times that Klaus had almost choked to death from eating way too fast.

Klaus’s fork clattered against his dish so he could use that hand to cover his mouth as he started to cough to try and dislodge the food from his throat. Dave who was sitting next to him began to pat his back roughly to try and assist him knowing full well how Klaus can get while he’s eating. He tried to make the point of sitting next to him just in case this ever happened, god knows how many times he’s had to do this.

Klaus panted and caught his breath before returning to the same eating speed as before having learned absolutely nothing from past mistakes, and shit there’s been a lot of them.

“Jesus slow down Spook you’re gonna kill yourself.” Gary warns while appalled by Klaus’s lack of self preservation.

“Awe you do care.” Klaus sassed with food in his mouth. “You’re makin’ me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.” Klaus smirked and took another pointed bite of his meal.

“Klaus, you can slow down you know…” Dave said kindly.

Klaus sighs and sets down his fork deciding he wasn’t hungry anymore. He sat for the rest of the meal in silence, listening to the conversations around him but not contributing to them in any way. Just when he thought he got rid of one bully more appeared in its place.

After they were dismissed for the evening Klaus went to the side of the tent while everyone else turned in for the night for some alone time. He didn’t actually want to be alone but Klaus wouldn’t know what to say if someone were here with him.

He sat on the ground and leant up against a stack of empty crates and closed his eyes to try and tune the world out. Klaus didn’t enjoy being interrogated all the time and it stressed him out.

After a few deep breaths he heard someone walk up and sit down next to him. Klaus didn’t even need to open his eyes to guess who it was.

“And how can I help you on this fine night, David?” Klaus asked with his eyes still shut.

He heard Dave sigh and then he nudged his boot against Klaus’s to make him open his eyes.

“I’ve come with a peace offering.” Dave said holding out a joint and a lighter.

Klaus cracked a small smile and accepted the joint and stuck it in his mouth. Dave held out the lighter and Klaus held the end of the joint in the tiny flame and sighed at the first hit before passing the joint to Dave.

“Thanks.” Klaus whispered finally.

Dave pocketed his lighter and they passed the joint back and forth in silence just enjoying each other’s company.

“I also came to apologize.” Dave said nervously. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I apologize if I hurt you in any way and overstepped my bounds.”

Klaus blew the smoke out of his lungs.

“You wanna know why I eat so fast?” Klaus doesn’t wait for Dave to respond -- which would have been something along the lines of, ‘You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Klaus.’ -- before just jumping right into it.

“Before this I was homeless. I never knew when or where my next meal was coming from. I tried going to soup kitchens but I felt embarrassed showing up there when my Dad was this big rich hotshot and his dumbass junkie of a son is galavanting about the place as a charity case.

“Sometimes it was a tough choice between buying drugs or food and usually the drugs won out in the end. I never want to be in that position again where I have to make that choice but it’s ingrained in my brain that this may just be my last meal and I better eat it quick or someone might take it away.

“Back home I felt like the family fuck up. Correction, I still feel like the family fuck up the location isn't the issue. It’s part of the reason I ended up here. My siblings don’t care what I do as long as I don’t end up dead on their front porch because then I’m not their problem. We’ve never really been close. ...They also don't exactly know that I'm here.”

Klaus played with the hem of his shirt before the joint was passed back to him and gave him something else to focus on.

“You’re not a fuck up, Klaus. And I know that we just met a month ago but I can tell that you’re a good person. I don’t like it when you talk bad about yourself, that’s my friend you’re talking about and I don’t appreciate you speaking that way about him.” Dave chuckles and sends a shy smile towards Klaus.

Klaus was lucky that it was dark out so Dave couldn’t see the blush that spread over his cheeks.

That night Klaus had a nightmare.

_“Klaus, help me.” A familiar sounding ghost cried though he couldn’t see it at the moment._

_Klaus found that he couldn’t move from his spot his feet seemed to be glued to the floor and no matter what he did, he couldn’t get them unstuck._

_“Klaus! Why aren’t you helping me!?” The same ghost screamed this time a little closer and Klaus could start to make out a figure in the shadows. The ghost limped closer out of the darkness and Klaus could see a disfigured version of his brother Ben._

_“Klaus, it hurts. You have to help me.” Mutilated Ben stood in front of Klaus. He was covered in blood and tentacles hung limply out of his stomach unmoving and lifeless._

_Even though this Ben was dead, Klaus could tell that this wasn’t his Ben. But that didn’t do anything to calm his anxiety as not Ben grabbed Klaus’s hands and placed them over the tentacles._

_“Help.” Not Ben asked again._

_Klaus’s hands shook as he took hold of the tentacles. He knew that the Horror hurt Ben when he didn’t let them out enough but right now they actually looked dead and useless. If not Ben wanted him to yank them out of him then he would try his best and help._

_“I’ll try.” Klaus whispered and started to pull. Not Ben let out an ear piercing scream and the tentacles came to life in Klaus’s hands. They wrapped themselves around Klaus’s limbs and started to pull._

_Klaus was lifted off the ground and the tentacles held any limb they could grab hold of and started to pull._

_“Ben! Stop you’re hurting me!” Klaus cried trying to fight against the Horror that just slowly began to pull and pull and pull. Not Ben didn’t seem to hear him over his own screaming._

_The tentacles stopped pulling and seemed to loosen just a little bit and Klaus was relieved. But then he made eye contact with Ben who had finally stopped screaming._

_“Bye bye.” Not Ben whispered and the Horror’s tentacles snapped in all different directions and tore Klaus limb from limb._

Klaus found himself being violently shaken awake and he shot up and knocked heads with the person standing above him.

“Ow!” Dave rubbed his forehead where Klaus hit him accidentally.

Klaus’s breathing sped up and he looked around to see everyone awake again because of his stupid nightmares and screaming. He tried to apologize but the words got caught in his throat and he found that he couldn’t even breathe right at the moment.

He was now gasping for breath and he felt a strong hand clasp around his shoulder. Klaus turned his head to meet eyes with Dave again.

“Klaus, you’re panicking. Just breathe with me, ok?” Dave whispered as the others started to go back to sleep once they saw what the hubbub was all about.

Klaus shook his head no, he couldn’t. Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t-

“Klaus. Breathe.” Dave said sharply noticing the other was starting to panic even more than before.

Dave grabbed Klaus’s hand and placed it on his own chest and told him to match his breathing.

The feeling of Dave’s heartbeat under Klaus’s hand was one of the most soothing things that Klaus had ever felt in his life. When he had panic attacks or nightmares as a child Grace had been programmed to tend to him. She had held him against her until he fell back asleep or calmed down enough to continue with his day. Grace was the perfect mother aside from the fact that she didn’t have a beating heart for him to listen to.

Klaus’s breathing started to slow down and he finally started to hear Dave’s voice as his own heartbeat slowed down. Dave took Klaus’s hand off of his chest but didn’t let it go at the moment.

“Hey, welcome back.” Dave smiled warmly. There was no pity or annoyance mixed in, just concern and relief.

“I’m sorry.” Klaus’s voice was rough as it escaped his throat. He quickly cleared it before trying to talk again. “Sorry for waking you up again.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” Dave let go of Klaus’s hand as if he just realized he was still holding it. “Lots of guys get nightmares, but something tells me that you’ve been having them for way longer than this…” Dave trailed off as if asking a question.

Klaus only nodded. “I don’t exactly want to talk about it right now.”

In reality Klaus really did want to talk about it. But the only person who he wanted to spill his guts to was nowhere to be found so he kept it to himself.

Dave nodded in understanding, stood up and clapped a hand on Klaus’s shoulder. “Get some sleep.” Dave sent one last smile his way before getting back in his own cot. “Goodnight Klaus.”

“...Night.” Klaus laid back down and stared at the ceiling of the tent for the remainder of the night, unable to fall back asleep.


	4. July, 1968

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Letters and we learn a little more about Dave!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today was my last day of work so I'm kinda on a high from that. Just a heads up, I don't know what the update schedule for next week is going to look like because I'm moving into my dorm on the 22nd and I'm probably going to be having some last minute hang out days with my friends before that. So just a heads up just in case nothing gets posted, I'll hopefully try and get at least one chapter out next week but no promises...
> 
> Love you all! <3

_~~~July, 1968~~~_

After three whole months of being thrown into the shit Klaus found comfort in sticking close to Dave whenever possible. He felt drawn to the man and vice versa. They stuck together like glue and you rarely found one without the other.

So when mail time came around, even though Klaus knew he wouldn’t get anything, he hung out with Dave to possibly tease him about what he might receive.

This time Dave was sent a package from his sisters. He only ever got mail from his sisters, never his parents but he never explained why that was.

Unbeknownst to Klaus, Dave was hiding something from him. Something _huge_. Dave had been kicked out of his house by his parents for liking men. He had been outed by the same man he had romantic feelings for and it broke his heart.

His sisters accepted him but his parents threw him out without a chance of ever coming back home. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and his wallet. So he enlisted in the army so he could at least have a chance of a new life.

But then Klaus came along and it sent him spiraling once again and he didn’t know how to contain those feelings. He wrote to his sisters for advice and they were more than happy to give their expert opinions. They exchanged letters written in Hebrew so no one could read over his shoulder.

Dave read the letter.

_‘Dave,_

_We just received your last letter and are happy to hear that you're doing well! Julie and I were elated to find out that you have a crush! Klaus sounds like a handsome man and we want you to go for it! From everything you’ve told us so far it’s so clear that he likes men as well._

_You may not think it right now but from a lady's perspective… He so obviously likes you. The lingering touches! The nicknames! Dave you can be so dense sometimes!_

_Julie and I have been saving a bit of money to send to you eventually so you have something to start with when your tour ends. Use it to help buy an apartment or something, we don’t want you living on the streets. We would love to come visit you when you get settled._

_Julie is fine, she’s already thinking about school even though it’s a whole month away. I am good as well, I got a new summer dress for when Toby and I go out and things have been going pretty well between us. He bought me a promise ring and it’s beautiful Dave! I wish you could see it._

_Sandy still wonders where you are. She lays in front of your bedroom door and cries until either Julie or I drag her away. I wish she could understand, but she’s just a dog so she can’t. All she does is cry and whine while waiting for you to take her on her walk after supper and I don’t think that it’s the same when Julie and I take her._

_Speaking of your room, Mama and Papa haven’t touched it like you expected them to. Julie and I have taken some of your more valuable things out of there just in case they decide to change their minds. Your records are safe! Don’t worry!_

_Julie and I are patiently awaiting your next letter. We also included a little something for your gentleman caller as well… We love you, please stay safe._

_Love,_  
_ Stephanie and Julie.’_

His sisters took turns writing to him all the time and since Stephanie was older her spelling and grammar was better. When Julie wrote to him the letters were shorter and they were filled with spelling errors but Dave still treasured the letters he got from them.

“Good letter?” Klaus asked when Dave folded the letter back up.

Dave nodded and smiled. “Yeah.”

He opened the box up and found some of his old stuff as well as some brand new packaged items. There was also a smaller box inside with ‘Klaus’ written on top in cursive. Definitely Stephanie’s doing.

He took the box out and handed it to Klaus.

“From my sisters.” Dave smiled at him again.

“But…” Klaus whispered when the box was placed in his hands.

“They like you.” Dave chuckled and turned back to his own box to give Klaus some privacy.

Klaus opened the box with care, he didn’t know that Dave talked about him to his sisters. He spoke very highly of them when Klaus asked about them so he assumed that this was a high honor to be receiving a package from them.

The elegant writing on the top was a nice touch and Klaus didn’t think he’d ever received a package with so much care put into it before. Inside the package each item was carefully surrounded in tissue paper.

There was an Ouija board planchette, a Monopoly top hat game piece, a letter ‘K’ charm that he would be putting on his dog tags, a notebook, some pens of different colors and an eyeliner pencil.

Klaus held up the eyeliner with excitement, he hadn’t been able to get a hold of any since he got here and here goes Dave’s sisters to know exactly what he needed.

“Oh, I don’t think they meant to put that in there…” Dave noticed what Klaus was holding up with a blush over his cheeks. Those sneaky girls.

“No it’s fine. I’ll find some use for it.” Klaus smiled to himself. “So what’s up with the game piece?”

“The top hat huh? They said it was for luck when they gave me mine before I left. I got the dog one.” Dave reached into his pocket and pulled out said token. It was well worn and looked like it had seen better days.

Klaus smiled and put his in his pocket as well. He would take all the luck he could get.

He showed off the other items he got as well and put the charm on his dog tags as he said he would. Dave laughed at the planchette and said it was his favorite of the items.

“Could you tell them thank you for me?” Klaus asked once he packed up his new treasures in their box.

“You could always use that notebook to write them something and I’ll send it out with mine.” Dave suggested.

“Deal!” Klaus said excitedly.

Dave showed Klaus what his sisters gave him and someone asked Klaus about his family again. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last.

“Get somethin’ from a gal back home, Spook?” Mikey teased.

Klaus rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, the old lady is crying and pleading for me to return to her.”

“Naw I saw Dave give that to him so it was from his sisters. Spook never writes to his family.” Don -- the bastard -- called out.

“No family to write to. They don’t know I’m here.” Klaus shrugged. “We’re not that close anyways.”

The conversation shifted and then everyone was talking about their own families and their girls waiting for them back at home.

Klaus learned that Tommy would go back home to his mother to care for her in her old age. Bill would go back to his girlfriend and would propose to her as soon as he got home. Gary had a wife and a little girl waiting for him to return safely. Wayne wanted to go to college. Don had a dog that was waiting for him back home. Scott had a wife. Timmy had a son to raise by himself. Randy just wanted to get laid.

Once the touchy feely shit was finished they made fun of Randy for being a virgin and they all promised to help him get laid.

Later Dave and Klaus were alone sharing a joint before bed.

“Why don’t you write to your family? And don’t give me any of that, ‘We’re not that close’ bullshit. I think it will make you feel better if you let them know where you are.” Dave suggested.

“I’m serious. There’s no point in me writing to them, they don’t know I’m here. None of them even notice that I’m gone and they won’t care.” Klaus sighed.

Dave nudged his boot against Klaus’s. Their hips and shoulders were pressed together and they both silently welcomed the touch of the other.

“Look, I’ll think about it if it’ll get you off my back.” Klaus chuckled and nudged Dave’s boot back.

Night patrols were always a mystery with Klaus. Would he be sober enough to be any use to anyone, or would he be high off his ass? A huge mystery to anyone but Dave didn’t mind taking him when he was high as long as he got to spend time with the man.

Klaus was unpredictable when he was high. Sometimes he was giggly or loopy or sometimes he just wanted to sing. Those were Dave’s favorite times, when Klaus would sing to him.

Tonight he was lucky enough to have jukebox Klaus while they sat underneath their tree for a boring night of patrols. The stars were out and they were stargazing when Klaus started to sing.

Klaus started giggling and began to sing the lyrics of a song he’d never heard of.

“I gotta stay high all the time.” Klaus snorted with laughter and used a finger to jab Dave in the chest. “To keep you off my mind.” That was all he sang of that song before jumping to a series of Beatles songs that Dave joined in singing when he recognized a melody.

“Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes.” Klaus sang. “Ugh my voice sounds like shit.” He mumbled and Dave disagreed. Klaus’s voice was the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard in his whole life.

“There beneath the blue suburban skies.” Dave encouraged him to continue singing with him and he did but with a whole different song that he didn’t know the lyrics to once again.

“How about… Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it’s feels like years since you’ve been here. Here comes the sun, doo doo doo. Here comes the sun, and I say. It’s alright.” Klaus frowned when Dave didn’t join in.

“You’ve got a problem with, ‘Here Comes The Sun?” He asked.

“It sounds lovely but I don’t know the words.” Dave smiled.

“Eh, give it a year or two then you'll learn them.” Klaus shrugged not knowing that the song hadn’t come out yet. Well he would… But it would be the next morning when he came down off his high and Dave’s confused face would really sink in.

This time Dave started singing one and had a blush on his face the whole time.

“Close your eyes.” Dave started and Klaus perked up in recognition.

“And I’ll kiss you. Tomorrow I’ll miss you, remember I’ll always be true. And then while I’m away, I’ll write home everyday, and I’ll send all my loving to you.”

~~~

_‘Dear Julie and Stephanie,_

_Thank you both so much for the exquisite package! How did you know that I was in desperate need of an eyeliner pencil? You try finding a CVS out here in the jungle!_

_Dave talks about you both all the time and you sound like lovely girls! I would love to meet you someday if that's alright. I would love to take you both on a shopping trip to celebrate our new friendship!_

_Speaking of Dave he's being such a drag and trying to get me to return the eyeliner. Of course if you didn't actually mean to send it I'll pop it in an envelope and send it right back but it may be pretty used up by the time you get it!_

_You'll have to tell me all the embarrassing Dave stories you can so I can use them as blackmail. :)_

_I'm just kidding but for real could you tell me about him? Whenever I ask him about himself he just turns the conversation back onto me, and that's supposed to be my job! I swear your brother is the only man that can have me talking about my childhood and not have it hurt (long story)._

_Thank you both again for the package!_

_Your new best friend,_  
_ Klaus Hargreeves'_

~~~

_'Luther,_

_Listen up big guy… I never want to hear you utter the words, ‘Dad send me to the moon’ again because this shit that I’m about to tell you is gonna get crazy. To make a long story short I’m in 1968 Vietnam. Fighting in the shit baby! Down and dirty!_

_Am I gonna come back to 2019? Don’t know yet, think I’ll just let this play out and see where it gets me. Go with the flow, you know?_

_But! In the case of my death -- please check some army records for me on that, haven’t decided if I feel like dying here. It’s not in the schedule but I can always make room for it -- find my whole stash and then you, Diego and Five are to smoke it in my honor. One last bros night out, just for me. I’m sure Ben will be hanging around with y’all so he won’t be missing out I assure you._

_So how am I doing? Pretty good if I do say so myself… And speaking of stashes, the shit they got here works miracles! I’ve never felt so free! Of course you wouldn't know anything about that._

_I don’t even know why I’m writing to you really, you’ve never liked me. Don’t even try to deny it. You hate me with every fiber in your giant body._

_What happened with that by the way? You got fucking ripped man. Might need to lay off on the weights next time because it’s starting to get scary. That’s how you attract the furries and you don’t want to attract the furries. They’re kinda freaky and if I know anything about you -- and I don’t -- that’s not what you’re into…_

_Okay, I’m done making fun of you for now. Probably… Maybe… No promises…_

_Your absolute favorite brother,_  
_ Klaustrophobia_

_P.S.  
_ _Bitch'_

Please deliver to XXX on March 29th, 2019


	5. August, 1968

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus has some big revelations and a big decision to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I actually got this chapter out faster than I thought I would so I hope that the next one goes just as smooth so y'all can hopefully have two chapters this week! :)

_~~~August, 1968~~~_

Dave and Klaus are best friends who totally don’t think about kissing each other 24/7, no of course not! Why would you even think something like that!? That’s ridiculous! Scandalous! Preposterous and other adjectives and the likes!

No, Klaus knew that this was dangerous and was practically painting a target on his chest and walking out in front of dozens of trained Vietnam soldiers and telling them to use him for target practice. This would be worse than any bullying he could imagine. This could result in immediate death for both him and Dave.

Dave knew this was dangerous too. He’d gone so long suppressing his true self and having no one find out his darkest secret and in walks Klaus and has Dave wrapped around his finger in an instant.

He couldn't explain how it happened but it did and Dave was kicking himself for allowing it to happen, again in Dave's case. He couldn't go through that again. He couldn't start his whole life over again in an instant. He had no where else to go.

Dave still didn’t understand where Klaus even came from. There was no news of any new recruits coming in, and just him? Just the one man in the middle of the night drop off? The guy wasn’t even properly trained and relied on everyone to teach him everything. The poor guy must have just wandered into the camp in the middle of the night. He was lucky that no one thought he was a spy or he would’ve been dead before the sun was even up.

Nevertheless, everyone asked Klaus about everything and Dave could tell that it really made him uncomfortable, so he made a point to never push the other man too far if Dave ever wanted to know something about him. He usually came to Dave if he ever needed to talk about anything and Dave was there to listen.

Klaus found that he enjoyed getting to know Dave on a personal level. He also found that he didn’t mind telling Dave about his family or his life back home. He enjoyed getting to know someone on a personal level, a lot more than he thought he would.

Night patrols were the best time for them to get even more personal with their questions. Kinda like they were on a date! Not that either of them would admit that out loud.

“So, you never told me your plans for after you get out of here.” Dave said. Their sides were pressed up against each other under their usual tree. Klaus had recently ripped the sleeves off of his jacket to make it a vest so the feel of his bare skin against Dave’s own drove him wild.

“Ah, not really sure.” Klaus shrugged. “Home really isn’t the best option right now.”

Dave smiled to himself.

“I’m planning on getting an apartment or a nice cabin somewhere. Julie and Stephanie are sending me some money to get me started. Home isn’t the best option for me right now either.” Dave started, wiping his sweaty palms off on his pants.

“And uh, if you’re looking for a place to stay… Maybe you could stay with me until you figure out what you want to do?” Dave suggested and immediately regretted it in fear of rejection. “I mean! You don’t have to, I just thought it might be nice to have some company…”

“That actually sounds really nice.” Klaus smiled, immediately calming Dave down and easing his worries. And he meant it too. Klaus had never thought something so domestic -- even if it was just being roommates -- could sound so nice.

They continued to stargaze, pointing out made up constellations and trying to come up with stupid names for them to outdo the other. Every once in a while Klaus would come up with an especially funny one and Dave would just light right up.

Dave let out a snort and brought one leg up against his chest and he punched Klaus’s shoulder lightly as he laughed. His head was thrown back and he had the widest smile on his face.

Klaus felt his heart start to beat faster in his chest and his face flushed red and it was that moment that Klaus knew that he was in love with Dave.

Oh no, no, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Klaus couldn’t be in love with Dave, he couldn’t! But… Here he was staring at Dave’s beautiful face as he tried to stop laughing at something Klaus had said. He had made Dave happy. There were tears in his eyes from laughing so hard and Klaus’s heart melted at the vulnerability Dave showed to Klaus on a daily basis.

When Dave finally calmed down he let out a sigh and leaned his head back against the tree totally oblivious to the fluttering going on inside of Klaus's chest.

“Can I tell you something?” Dave asked.

“Anything.” Klaus says trying to recompose himself.

Dave sighs again. “I got kicked out by my parents. They… They didn’t like who I was so they kicked me out. I didn’t have anywhere else to go so I enlisted in the army, one of the only few volunteers here. My sisters didn’t agree with my parents thankfully. They’re all I have and I’m so grateful to them that they never gave up on me.”

Klaus didn’t know what to do but be in awe. Dave’s beautiful show of vulnerability -- once again -- made him seem so strong and it made Klaus smile. Klaus nudged his boot against Dave’s -- an unspoken gesture of comfort between the two -- and gave him a reassuring smile.

“Thank you for telling me that.” Klaus tells Dave. Dave smiles back at Klaus and rests one of his arms on the leg that was still up against his chest.

“I kinda understand what you’re going through. Maybe…” Klaus starts.

Dave gives him his full attention, ready to not be the center of attention anymore.

“If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand more times. My family and I weren’t close. As kids we were trained to be machines and it was hard to learn how to trust in that environment. Our Mom didn’t come into the picture until we were ten and we didn’t have names until she got there.

“It seems funny that a billionaire adopts seven kids and doesn’t name them until they’re halfway to adulthood but trust me it happened. Our Mom is the best, she really loved us, you know? Reginald and my Mom aren’t married. She was originally brought into the house as a nanny but we grew attached to her and soon we were calling her Mom.

“At sixteen I ran away from home and didn’t come back until I learned that he was dead. And that was years later. I was homeless and had nowhere to turn.

"I've never told you this but my brother Ben is dead. He died in an accident when we were 18. I wasn’t around when it happened but it was on the news and I felt my life start to fall apart. He was so close to getting out. Everyone always talked about leaving when we were 18, but he just didn't make it in time. One last mission and then he would leave but that didn't happen.

“I… I saw him everywhere and no amount of drugs I took could drown that out. Reginald told me that I wasn’t allowed to attend the funeral unless I agreed to come back home and train again but I couldn’t do that to myself. I got out of that house and nothing would make me go back as long as Reginald was alive.” Klaus didn’t look at Dave, afraid of what he would see on his face.

Dave was angry. Not at Klaus, but for the abuse that obviously went on in that house. This poor man wasn’t even allowed to attend his own brothers funeral unless he went back to that abuse.

“Do you still see him?” Dave finally asked.

Klaus picked his head up to look at Dave. “Not since I got here, no.”

“I hate to say this because it’s obvious that you cared deeply for your brother, but isn’t that a relief?” Dave asked with a raised eyebrow.

Klaus chuckled weakly.

“I mean, it might seem like it would be. But I think I miss him even more now.” Klaus said since Dave didn’t know that he was actually serious when he said he could see his dead brother.

Dave placed a comforting hand on Klaus’s back and Klaus tried to not to blush as that hand moved over to his arm and pulled him in for a weird side hug. He was over the moon at the comfort and physical contact but didn’t let it show.

Klaus was so afraid that he would say something to fuck up this friendship he had going on with Dave. He wanted to say something, anything. But anything he thought of would just ruin everything. It was on the tip of his tongue, don't say it, don't say it!

Instead he blurted out, “I want to get sober!” Even Klaus was surprised by his words but he sighed in relief at not saying anything dumb.

The hand on his arm tightened slightly.

“Are you sure? It’s gonna be rough.” Dave asked and silently he was cheering to himself for Klaus taking this huge step.

“Yeah, actually.” Klaus smiled. “The more I think about how shitty my childhood was the more I realize how fucking terrible it was to search the streets for a dealer who would charge way too much for some little pills. I want to get rid of that part of my life and start over. I don’t want my old life bleeding over into my new one.”

Dave smiled and pulled Klaus against him again.

“I’m actually really proud of you right now.” Dave chuckled. “And I want to help you.”

And that’s what Dave did. He helped Klaus slowly cut out the drugs and helped him with withdrawals. He scared off Don when his new shipment came in and he tried to offer Klaus his cut.

If Klaus suddenly got up to go puke in the woods or in a bucket next to his bed no matter what time of the day or night Dave would be right next to him to talk him through it.

Klaus was so grateful towards Dave for helping him when he couldn’t even help himself. It was hard to get sober, god he’d tried how many damn times in his life and just couldn’t kick the habit. Rehab used to be a place where he’d been forced to go and then released to have a great head rush and then he’d end up in an ambulance again, rinse and repeat.

Oh what he’d give to see the look on his sponsor’s face if could tell him he’s voluntarily getting sober. At first he wouldn’t believe him, but after a little convincing he would tell Klaus that he was proud of him just like Dave did. And oh how he craves the feeling of someone being proud of him more than the drugs.

He could do this, he really could. Sure there were still the nights where Klaus would wake up screaming from another nightmare and would search the place for anything to take the edge off. But everyone knew he was trying to get sober and they had hidden their stashes to try and help. They all agreed that Klaus was more useful to them while sober than high so they were quick to agree when Dave asked them to hide their shit.

On those nights Dave would just take Klaus outside of the tent where they sat against crates and Klaus would cry into Dave’s shoulder that he just needed one last pill or hit and he would quit then, he promised. But Dave never fell for it. Never let Klaus do that to himself after all of his hard work just to throw it away.

Most nights they woke up outside the tent rather than inside of it, pressed up against each other in the same position they fell asleep in.

Klaus wanted nothing more than to make Dave proud of him and deep down, he knew that he was.

~~~

_‘Diego,_

_Hey Brooooooo! You’ll never believe me when I tell you that I’m sober now! Yeah, I finally did it! So sorry that it took me this long to realize that it stopped being cute when we were teenagers… Whoopsie!_

_It was a long shitty process and the withdrawal symptoms aren’t completely gone yet but we’re getting close! And it only took me being thrown in the middle of a fucking war to realize that being high all the time kinda high key sucks dicks._

_I told Luther that if I died, you, him and Five were supposed to smoke my whole stash in my honor but I’m not sure that that’s how I want to be remembered anymore. I want to be remembered for who I was, not my addiction._

_Ugh gross. I hate that I just said that but I’m writing in pen and I can’t erase that shit. Believe me I would erase that garbage fire of a sentence if I could._

_So now I will tell you an obligatory, 'Me being sober as hell and it sucks' story. You know, since you love my high stories so much -- like actually you are the only one who ever appreciated them Luther and Five have no sense of humor -- I thought I should ease you into some of me going through withdrawals since the fun stories are about to stop pretty harshly… Sorry dude._

_I had just woken up in the middle of the night and not for the first time. I had told Luther in a previous letter that the shit they got here is strong as fuck so it made a lot of sense that the withdrawal would be even worse than in 2019, but there I sat absolutely baffled once again._

_A hand rubbed my back and I puked into a bucket for probably the fourth time that night. I didn’t know who it was but I had a pretty good idea since there’d be only one person willing to put up with my bullshit. Look, all I can say is that I’m not even supposed to be here. And puking my guts up wasn’t on the to do list either I’ll have you know._

_Oh! I should probably tell you about Dave while I’m at it. David Katz is my new best friend and he is helping me through my withdrawals and the whole, 'Being in Vietnam' situation. He’s like you if you were Jewish and from the 60’s!_

_So you know my dumbass had to go and fall in love with this bitch while I’m here. And you might be thinking, ‘It’s the 60’s, he’s straight’. Bitch fuck no, he’s a gay disaster I just know it. And you know what? While I’m at it, I'm going to go right ahead and throw everyone else right under the bus too!_

_My gaydar has been going off ever since I got here. It’s a whole cesspool of closeted men that have no outlet since there are no women for miles and don’t know that bisexuality -- or pansexuality in my case -- is a thing. Everyone is a little bit gay Diego dear, just remember that._

_Your favorite problem child,_   
_ Klausifications_

_P.S._   
_ Please dump my entire stash, I won’t be needing it anymore. I got me a mans to seduce.’_

Please deliver to XXX on March 29th, 2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, according to my timeline for this... I think y'all are gonna like the next chapter very much. *Evil Laughter* ;)


	6. September, 1968

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now for what you've all been waiting for!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going to... Leave this here if you don't mind...  
A little longer since I made you guys wait so long. Still not sure what my update schedule is going to be like but hang in there y'all!  
<3

_~~~September, 1968~~~_

The hustle and bustle of Saigon was a welcome change from the tenseness of the camp. It was time for some R&R and Klaus was ready to fully take advantage of it. Their leave group started their evening by going to a shopping center.

Scott had convinced them all to go to a tattoo parlor and get matching tattoos. At first Klaus was the only one on board with the idea but he had managed to convince Dave and after that everyone else jumped on board as well.

Klaus volunteered to go first and soon he had a ‘173rd Airborne Brigade Sky Soldiers’ tattoo on his left shoulder. There was a skull with a gun underneath with palms behind them. Klaus hopped out of the chair with a pleased grin on his face.

Scott was already in the other chair so Dave sat down next. Klaus stood next to him to distract him from the pain -- it was Dave’s first tattoo and it was a big deal! -- and crack jokes every once in a while.

After Dave’s tattoo was finished he hopped out of the chair and stood in front of the mirror to admire it. Klaus stood next to him and they looked at them together.

Dave looked at Klaus in the mirror when he wasn’t looking and smiled.

“So beautiful.” He said with an adoring smile.

Klaus didn’t see it but Dave was looking at him when he said that.

Klaus looked back at their other group members and noticed them all crowding around the artist books and not paying attention to them at all.

“Hey.” Klaus asked getting a great idea.

Dave raised an eyebrow in question.

“You want to go on an adventure?” There was a mischievous twinkle in Klaus’s eye that Dave just couldn’t say no to.

“What did you have in mind?” Dave smiled.

Klaus and Dave snuck out of the tattoo parlor and began to walk around the shopping center. Klaus pointed out a little clothing store and dragged Dave inside of it.

“Finally! I need to get out of these rags!” Klaus exclaimed and immediately started scanning the racks. Dave stood by just watching. Every once in a while he’d see a nice shirt and pick it up only to put it back where he found it.

Once Klaus had found a small armful to try on he noticed that Dave didn’t have anything picked out for himself.

“Dave! We’re supposed to be having fun!” Klaus frowned and shifted his clothes to one arm and started searching again.

Klaus found a fun looking blue plaid button up short sleeved shirt that he thought would look nice with Dave’s eyes. And he told him so.

“This one would match your eyes.” Klaus smiled as he held up the shirt to Dave’s chest.

Dave silently took the shirt -- he was never really one for shopping -- and nodded. If Klaus thought it would look nice on him then he would try it on. He followed Klaus to the dressing rooms and they went in separate stalls right next to each other.

Klaus went through his options and finally settled on some pinstripe pants and a striped yellow crop top. He stepped out of the dressing room in it to find Dave in his shirt. Klaus smiled at the sight. Dave had found some khakis somewhere and was now wearing those as well.

“Well, aren't you just the prettiest girl at the prom?” Klaus asked with a smirk and shamelessly looked Dave up and down to admire his body. He saw Dave blush and he rubbed at the back of his neck.

“You don’t look so bad yourself.” Dave complimented in his own awkward way. He used his free hand to gesture to Klaus’s outfit and Klaus gave him a spin.

“Quite a find if I do say so myself.” Klaus smiled at the positive attention.

Dave thought that Klaus looked really hot in that crop top and those pants. He wanted nothing more than to run his hands over the material and just feel Klaus underneath his hands but he held himself back.

Klaus stepped closer to Dave and unbuttoned the top two buttons on Dave’s shirt. Dave of course just stood as still as possible while probably not even breathing if he were to be honest. He was disappointed when Klaus stopped at just the two buttons.

“You’re going to overheat in this weather if you button it all the way to the top.” Klaus smiled and took a reluctant step back from Dave to admire the other man again.

There was a weird silence between them as they just looked at each other.

Klaus cleared his throat. “Ah, well I’m getting this and I one hundred percent think that you should get that as well.” He rubbed his arm and stepped back into the dressing room to change back into his army fatigues.

Dave stood there for a stunned second before doing the same. He didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to hide his attraction for Klaus. And speaking of, Dave could hear the other man shuffling around in the next room and angrily whispering to himself. Or at least he thought the other man was talking to himself…

It was hard to tell with Klaus. Sometimes the conversations he overheard Klaus having with himself seemed a little too real to just be in his head. It was as if there was something or someone there that no one but Klaus could see. Whatever it was, Klaus never seemed happy to see it.

Dave and Klaus met outside their dressing rooms again with their purchases in their arms. They paid for their items and continued to walk around the shopping center.

“Are you hungry?” Dave asked.

Klaus smiled and nodded. “Starving.”

This was their chance to get some authentic Vietnamese food so why not give it a go?

They found a small hole in the wall restaurant and picked something at random on the menu since they couldn’t actually read it. The two made small talk over their meal and just enjoyed each other’s company.

“What’s the plan for tonight?” Klaus asked.

“Well, I was thinking that we should drop by our hotel room and drop our stuff off and get changed before meeting the fellas over at the club.” Dave said after a full mouthful of his food.

“Sounds like a plan, Davey.”

After their meal they walked to their hotel. Klaus was just so happy to be out of the shithole that was their base camp so he was trying to make the most of everything. He made Dave laugh every chance he got.

When they got to their hotel Klaus dove onto one of the two beds and starfished himself out.

“A real bed! Oh my god this is the height of luxury!” Klaus exclaimed.

Dave laughed at his companion and set his things on the other bed. He grabbed his new clothes and excused himself to the bathroom to get dressed.

Klaus had no problem stripping down in the center of the room and was dressed by the time Dave rejoined him. Klaus was in the middle of applying eyeliner to his lids when Dave walked out of the bathroom.

Dave had stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Klaus’s face made up. It was minimal and subtle but it made Dave’s heart skip a beat.

“Ready to go?” Klaus asked when he noticed Dave standing in the bathroom’s doorway.

“Oh! Uh, yeah! Let’s go.” Dave nodded quickly and they left the hotel.

Klaus was already feeling himself! To be in an outfit that he felt comfortable in was a great feeling. He couldn’t wait to get to the club so he could show off everything he had to offer. He wanted to show off to Dave. Hell, he wanted to show off Dave! He was super cute in his new outfit -- he even unbuttoned it like Klaus showed him -- and Klaus could tell that he felt good too.

When they reached the club, their friends were already drinking at the bar. They were happy to see the two and they all showed off their new tattoos. Turns out some of them got more than just the agreed upon matching one.

Two girls approached the group and one dragged Klaus away and the other took Gary. They danced on the dance floor leaving the others behind.

Dave stood in Gary's spot and tried not to feel a pang of jealousy for Klaus leaving him so soon. So he drank. Quite a bit.

Eventually everyone was pulled onto the dance floor by someone and they were all dancing and having a good time. Klaus looked like he was having the time of his life in the small group that he was dragged into.

There was a girl trying to dance with Dave but he was too distracted watching Klaus that she eventually gave up and left him alone. He just shrugged and walked over to the bar. He bought himself a drink, downed it in one go and then ordered another one.

Dave watched his friends get danced on from across the club by beautiful looking women. He wanted nothing more than to join them and he knew that he could no problem, but something in the back of his mind continued to remind him that Klaus was there. He was there and he looked amazing in that goddamn outfit. God that man drove Dave insane!

Dave saw Klaus walk up to a different part of the bar and he saw his chance. He walked up behind him and Klaus looked over at him with a smile. Before he could say anything two girls approached and dragged them away. This wasn’t how Dave imagined that this night would go.

Klaus danced with the girl until he got bored and then he went to find Dave again. He was now awkwardly -- and adorably -- dancing in a small group of people that Klaus knew Dave didn’t know.

“You want to get a drink?” Klaus shouted over the music.

“Sounds good!” Dave shouted back already walking towards the bar and ready to be away from the strangers. Klaus smiled and started to follow him.

Bill was standing by the bar talking up some girl who was flirting right back.

“Bill! Want to join us for some shots!?” Klaus exclaimed when he saw his friend.

“Hell yeah!” He yelled back and turned to the bartender and ordered a bottle of something and four shot glasses.

The four of them walked to a free standing table and Bill started to pour shots. Dave and Klaus stood on either side of him and the girl Bill was talking to filled in the free spot.

They clinked glasses and knocked back the first shot. Dave used two hands as he watched Klaus do his with a hand behind his back. That definitely didn’t turn Dave on… No of course it didn’t. It just sent a chill through Dave’s entire body that just so happened to go straight to his dick. Big fucking difference if you asked him.

The next shot they did, Klaus reached across the table to link his and Dave’s arm and they took the next one like that.

After the bottle ran out Bill and his girl left Dave and Klaus at the table alone.

“You look like you’ve been having fun.” Dave chuckled.

“Oh yeah Davey baby. Nothing like some dancing to get the blood flowin’!” Klaus exclaimed but immediately frowned afterwards. Something about his own comment must have brought back some bad memories.

A girl walked up behind Dave and touched his arm in invitation. Dave looked at Klaus who just smiled and waved them towards the dance floor. Klaus watched as Dave politely accepted the invitation and followed the girl.

It was getting close to closing now, Klaus found a group to dance with and soon he was sucked back into the music and was only pulled out from it when someone violently bumped into him from behind. He was getting ready to punch the guy when he saw that it was only Dave who had drunkenly stumbled into him.

Dave accidentally bumped into Klaus and when he turned around he saw the other man was smiling. He quickly pouted and shook his fist at him in a play threat. And god if that wasn’t the moment that Dave knew he was in love with the man standing in front of him, then he doesn’t know what else.

They stood there in the middle of the dance floor just staring at each other in adoration, mutual interest and so full of love.

‘Soul Kitchen’ by The Doors started playing and Klaus perked up in recognition.

“I love this song!” He exclaimed.

“Me too!” Dave shouted back over the noise.

They danced together without interruption from the ladies in the club. Most of their buddies had gone back to their hotel rooms with their ladies for the night so the chance of them getting called out was slim.

Dave smiled at Klaus when their shoulders brushed, or when they danced a little too close to be considered friendly. In this moment, there was no one else but each other.

“Last call, want another drink?” Klaus asked when the song ended and a different one started.

The two grabbed their glasses from the bartender and walked to a secluded area of the club that was mostly hidden from the rest of the building. There was a beaded curtain that separated them from the world in their minds.

They leaned up against a wall joking and laughing.

“You’re just about the craziest man I’ve ever met, Klaus.” Dave chuckled and this time Klaus didn’t share the same humor. He was too drunk to rationalize and think of it as a compliment.

“My siblings call me crazy all the time. Please, not you too.” Klaus frowned.

“Oh, Klaus. I… I didn’t mean it like that.” Dave sympathised.

He saw Klaus’s sad eyes and he reached his hand up to cup the side of his face and rub his thumb over Klaus’s cheek. Klaus reached a hand up from where it had been resting on his drink and gripped Dave’s shirt sleeve tightly, inviting.

Klaus shuffled in front of Dave’s body and Dave’s hand dropped to underneath Klaus’s chin. Dave pulled Klaus’s face closer and tilted his head. By reflex Klaus’s eyes closed and he melted into the kiss.

It was a sweet kiss and they could taste the alcohol on each other’s tongues. In fact, it was the nicest kiss Klaus had ever had and he felt tears start to fall down his cheeks.

When they finally broke away Dave was smiling. He reached up and wiped away a stray tear that rolled down Klaus’s face.

“I’m gay.” Dave chuckled.

“No fucking shit.” Klaus laughed back and went in for another kiss.

_~~~_

_‘Allison,_

_My dear I must admit that many things have happened to me since I have last seen you. I’ll start with the fact that I am in Vietnam 1968. For more info on that ask One and Two… It’s becoming a drag trying to explain it._

_I have successfully trapped me a man. For real this time too! His name is Dave and he is the love of my life. The sweetest man I’ve ever known. A beautiful human being. You would love him I just know it._

_Since being gay isn’t actually accepted in this time, we’ve decided on perusing a secret relationship until we get out of here. Dave wants to buy a cabin in the woods where no one can find us and harass us and I think that sounds just swell._

_Will I regret not coming back to 2019? No. But will I have regrets? Yeah, definitely. Like the fact that I never got to meet lovely little Claire. I hope she grows up to be just the lady that you are. You always were the most fashion forward and I owe it all to you that I can be as fabulous as I am._

_And sorry if I’m overstepping my bounds here in saying that Patrick doesn’t know what he’s missing. I probably don’t know the whole story here but he seems like a jackass. You’re a strong independent woman who don’t need no man!_

_Your favorite makeup artist,_  
_ Klausal_

_P.S._  
_ I definitely did steal your skirt.’_

Please deliver to XXX on March 29th, 2019


	7. October, 1968

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wheels start to fall off the wagon a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T KILL ME PLEASE!!!  
I also wrote this in two days and I haven't had a chance to proofread it so if anything is wrong please let me know.

_~~~October, 1968~~~_

Sobriety -- in Klaus’s opinion -- sucked dicks. A lot of dicks too. Big swingin’ dicks! Especially when everyone decided that Klaus was finally sober enough to pull his full weight. He’s been out on day patrols before but Sarge had kicked him out after he gave away their position more than a few times.

Now he stays quiet, he doesn’t like seeing the ghosts of soldiers. He’s only thrown up once in seeing a ghost and that was when he saw one of his mutilated fallen brothers. Dave just assumed it was withdrawals and assured him that it would be alright.

Sometimes the ghosts helped him. Warned him when there were enemy troops coming or if there are snipers hiding in the trees. Klaus thought that those were always the worst but they had never proved him wrong before so he takes their advice and warns his patrol groups.

No one can explain how Klaus always knew when there was danger up ahead or if there was a grenade hidden in the brush somewhere, but they’ve all come to accept that if he says something, they need to listen to him or die.

This day patrol session was no different. There was a ghost standing miserably by itself with a bullet wound straight through its forehead. It wasn’t a soldier this time so this person must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Up ahead!” It cried and started following Klaus.

“There’s something up ahead.” Klaus whispered and everyone stopped walking to get into position.

“Small group, should be easy to take out if we’re careful enough.” He adds and they squat down in the tall grass to stay hidden.

Not even two minutes later enemy troops marched out of the thick brush and by some miracle they hadn’t spotted them yet so they take their advantage and wait until they’re sure everyone is out in the open.

“Fire!” Don shouts and they pop up and open fire at their unexpecting targets.

Klaus manages to take out one man before the ghost gets his attention again.

“In the tree!” He cries.

Klaus turns to the tree the ghost is pointing at and is about to warn everyone when a shot from said tree rings out and hits someone.

Klaus shoots the sniper down and turns to see who had gotten shot and his mouth goes dry when he sees Dave on the ground gripping his shoulder. He drops his gun and rushes to Dave’s side.

There is so much blood and Klaus fears the worst as it seeps past Dave’s fingers and down his shirt. The fear on Dave’s face was so unlike him and Klaus started to panic more. He placed both hands on top of Dave’s own to provide some extra pressure. Fear runs through Klaus and he can feel his whole body shaking.

“No, no, no, no, no you can’t do this to me. Stay with me, fuck! Hey, Dave look at me. Look at me okay? Oh damn it we need a medic! Okay. Look at me. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. Please, please...please stay with me, Dave. Stay with me. No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Klaus cried.

Around them their troop had managed to take out the enemies and were now struggling to get their stuff together so they can rush Dave back to camp while Klaus stayed at Dave’s side trying to get him to stay conscious.

Dave still hadn’t said a single word yet and it was scaring everyone. Dave was a great man and they didn’t want to lose him.

Klaus is talking a mile a minute to Dave who is still in too much shock to say anything at all. Tears ran down Klaus’s face and his voice was all choked up and Dave thought that was the most heartbreaking thing he’d ever heard.

Scott is pulling Klaus off of Dave and is handing him his gun and forces him to start walking while Don and Wayne pick Dave up off the ground and carry him back to camp.

Back at the base Dave goes straight to the med tent. Scott directs Klaus to a table and makes him sit down in a chair.

Klaus had gone quiet and everyone who was around camp was concerned that someone had died. The fact that Klaus was covered in blood and had seen Dave being carried in provided more questions than answers but they were too afraid to ask in case it totally broke Klaus. They may tease the guy but they actually did care about him.

Scott returns to the table with Bill and Tommy and is carrying a labeless bottle and a cup. Tommy slides the cup over to Klaus and tells him to drink it before he can have anything from the bottle. It turns out to just be some water but Klaus is grateful either way.

Soon they’re passing a bottle around the table and Klaus begins to come back to reality. A harsh reality where Klaus doesn’t even know if Dave is alive or not. He doesn’t know what he’d do if Dave were to die.

Would he go back in time and try again? Would he go back to 2019? Or would he just say fuck it and kill himself to be with Dave forever?

Damn it, the one good thing in Klaus’s life could be gone just like that and he doesn’t even know it yet. It hurts. So fucking much. There’s a tightness to his whole body that seems to have started at his heart. His heart feels like it’s been ripped into two and then smashed onto the ground. God really must have it out for him and he has some choice words for her when he gets there.

“I need to check on Dave.” Klaus says and starts to get up from the table. Bill grabs his arm and pulls him back into his chair.

“You need to sit your ass down and let the medics do their thing. They can’t patch him up if you’re there getting in the way.” Bill says sternly meaning there was no room for arguments.

Klaus knew he was right but damn did it still hurt to hear.

“Go wash up, you look like shit.” Scott comments.

He was right. Klaus was covered in Dave’s blood. It was all over his hands and it covered his clothes. Klaus was sure that there were tear tracks running down his dirt covered face as well.

“Alright.” Klaus slowly nods but doesn’t make any move to get up from his chair.

So they continue to pass the bottle around until it’s empty and then they sit there in silence. The silence was almost deafening. A realization of what could have been. Tommy and Bill weren’t there when it happened but if Dave had died nothing would have been the same ever again.

Finally someone comes out and tells them that they can go and see Dave. Klaus wants to explode from his chair and run all the way to the med tent but he could tell that Scott, Bill and Tommy wanted to see Dave too.

“You guys go first. I need to… I need a minute.” Klaus tells them and they get up to go visit Dave.

Klaus sits there, thinking about what he needs to say to Dave when he sees him. He doesn’t know how he’s going to react when he sees the man. He’ll probably cry. Yeah, definitely that one.

He doesn’t know how long he sat there but soon the three are coming out of the medical tent. Bill walks over and pats Klaus on the shoulder to bring him back to reality.

“He’s all yours.” Bill says with a wink.

_‘What the hell did that mean?’_, Klaus wondered. He nodded at Bill and stood up. He walked quickly to the tent and paused at the entrance.

Klaus took a deep breath and walks in. He scans the beds and finally his eyes land on Dave who is lying just a little too still in his. Tears prick at his eyes and he’s running to the bed before he feels them spill over his cheeks.

Klaus throws himself onto his knees by the bed and grips Dave’s hand tightly in his own. Dave had been watching him when he started running in and was still smiling at the sight.

“Whoa, at ease soldier.” Dave chuckles weakly.

Klaus looked at Dave with an exasperated look. “I thought I lost you, don’t fucking scare me like that again you prick!” He exclaimed.

“You look like shit.” Dave smiled, a little loopy from the morphine still. “But still pretty. You’re always pretty.” He reached a hand up to cup Klaus’s dirty face.

“I was a little preoccupied worrying about you, dumbass.” Klaus licked his lips and leaned into the touch Dave was giving him.

Klaus leans down when he’s sure no one is looking and gives Dave a desperate kiss who happily returns it.

“Ooh that was nice.” Dave giggles when they break apart. “Are you single?” He snorts.

Klaus just gives him a smile back and just thanks whatever Gods that Dave was still with them. With Klaus.

After Dave was released from the medical tent Klaus treaded lightly. He blamed himself, he really did. No matter how many times Dave assured him that it wasn’t his fault he would continue to tell himself that if he were just a little quicker he could’ve saved Dave the pain of being shot.

Dave has a theory that Klaus has been blaming himself for a lot of things. Has probably been doing it for a long time so it’s nothing but a reflex at this point. The root of the problem -- Dave speculates -- started with his horrible upbringing.

For the first week of Dave’s return Klaus is uncharacteristically quiet and mostly kept to himself. He tries everything he can to make sure Dave isn’t mad at him -- which he isn’t, Klaus is just paranoid.

Dave suspects that he and Klaus have a lot of work to do to relieve Klaus of his childhood trauma, and he’s more than happy to help him do that.

~~~

_“Five,_

_Ah! The smartest man in the house! (See how I didn’t call you a kid?) Now you’re probably already hatching a plan to stop the apocalypse and probably when that’s all over and done with, a way to get me back to the present._

_I’m just here to tell you that that isn’t what I want. I want to stay in the past with my hot boyfriend and adopt like seven cats and maybe a dog. I want chickens! Oh that would be so neat! I’ll be sure to name one after you!_

_I’ll definitely have to name one after everybody. I’ll be like Opera! But to chickens! It’ll be great I promise. I’ll be like, “You get corn, and you get some corn. Everyone gets corn!” And they’ll be like, “Bawk bawk bitch.”_

_So, uh… Dave got shot this month. He tells me that it isn’t my fault and deep down I guess I know that. But it’s hard to let go of old habits of just taking the blame to spare some feelings._

_This whole thing has made me realize that life is too precious to not take chances. I’ve fallen in love with this man and I fully intend to spend the rest of my life with him. My entire life I’ve just been careless and it’s time for me to settle down and take things slow. I know that’s a little counter intuitive to what I just said but I don’t care anymore._

_I think you need to start taking things easy too. You’ve been going and going and going for way too long and you need to just sit down and take a damn break once in a while or you’re going to burn out and get hurt. Please just do that for me._

_The nagging voice in the back of your head telling you to do crazy shit,_  
_ Klausure_

_P.S._  
_ Please tell Dolores to call me back, I gave her my number and she said she would call and she never did so could you just tell her that I’m thinking about her everyday? Thanks buddy! xoxo’_

Please deliver to XXX on March 29th, 2019


	8. November, 1968

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More mail and some night patrol shenanigans...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! Sorry about the late update I was swamped with homework this week.
> 
> Just a warning there's some mild M rated stuff in this chapter.

_~~~November, 1968~~~_

When mail time rolled around again Dave received his next letter from his sisters. It was accompanied by a package like before.

_’Dave,_

_Did I tell you or did I tell you? The way you describe Klaus it sounds like he really loves you. And I know it’s early and you both have to be careful about that sort of thing but I can tell that you really love him too. But that doesn’t mean that Julie and I haven’t already started planning your wedding. We’re thinking spring._

_So your tour is ending really soon! That’s exciting! Have you decided on where you want to move? Is Klaus moving in with you? He better be because we want to meet him! Julie and I have already claimed him as ours and we’re going shopping and doing each other's nails. Klaus told us in a letter that he used to do that stuff with one of his sisters and that he’s really good at playing salon._

_So we had to find out through Klaus that you got shot? Not cool Dave! We hope you’re ok but you should have told us! The letter Klaus sent us was so frantically written that I could barely read it. His handwriting is already messy and hard to read but gosh Dave you should have seen it. The urgency of it made us think that you were in worse condition that you actually were. Don’t leave us in the dark next time please._

_School is actually going well, the workload is terrible but my teachers are all really nice this year so that’s good. Julie has all the easy classes so I don’t mind when she asks me for help. I felt like it was my job to help with homework since you left._

_And before you even ask, here’s some music you’ve been missing out on:_

_“Hey Jude by The Beatles_  
_ Revolution by The Beatles_  
_ Hello, I Love You by The Doors”_

_These are some hits and I wish you could hear them._

_I’ve included in your package a jacket I found in your closet. I know you can’t exactly do much with it but you should give it to Klaus. It’s called a boyfriend jacket. I have one of Toby’s and it reminds me of him when I can’t see him. I would bet any money that Klaus would wear it every day if he could._

_We hope to hear from you soon and please stay safe._

_We love you,_  
_ Julie and Stephanie’_

Dave smiles and folds the letter back up and puts it back in the envelope. Klaus nudges his foot from under the table and doesn’t move it away. Their hips were pressed up against each other and if anyone noticed how close they were sitting no one pointed it out.

“How are your sisters?” Klaus asks with a smile. He really likes those girls, they’re nice just like Dave. Klaus was glad that Dave had nice siblings, he deserved them.

“They’re good.” Dave smiles back and opens the box to find an envelope and a box with Klaus’s name on it. He slides it over to his secret lover and their hands brush in the transition which makes all the hair on the back of Dave’s neck stand up.

“Danke!” Klaus exclaims happily and opens his own letter while Dave rummages through the rest of his box.

_‘Klaus,_

_Stephanie and I want to say thank you for being so nice to our brother. He’s a big dope but you’ve probably figured that out by now. You love him, right? Don’t even answer that I already know the answer._

_So if you and Dave get married does that make you my brother too? I already have one brother but I think it would be cool to have another one. Stephanie says that you two aren’t allowed to get married and I think that that’s a dumb rule. I think that if two people love each other they should be able to be together forever._

_I wanted to ask my Mama and Papa why that was but Stephanie told me I couldn’t. She said that they wouldn’t understand. But they're adults, aren’t they supposed to know these kinds of things?_

_Dave says that you have four brothers. And two sisters? I only have one sister and I can’t imagine having another one. Sometimes Stephanie can be so annoying! But that’s what she says about me so I guess we annoy each other so it’s fair._

_Is it hard to be away from that much family? I miss Dave so much every day, it's not the same without him here with us. Do you have a favorite sibling? Mama told me that I wasn’t allowed to have a favorite sibling._

_Stephanie says you’re welcome for the eyeliner and she’s glad that you like it so much. I don’t understand the appeal of makeup. It’s just gross stuff you put all over your face! Stephanie uses it all the time when she goes out with her boyfriend. Sometimes when we play salon I let her put some on me but she gets mad when I take it off right away. I don’t know if I’m the kind of girl who even likes makeup but Stephanie tells me that I’ll grow out of that._

_Stephanie also tells me that I need to make you promise to take care of our brother, whatever that means… But if something happens to our brother we’ll be really sad. Thank you for keeping him safe so far and caring for him._

_Stay safe,_  
_ Julie and Stephanie’_

It was a short letter, much shorter than the ones Stephanie wrote but it was still a letter Klaus would treasure forever.

He notices Dave pull a jacket out of his box with a blush over his cheeks.

“What’cha got there Davey?” Klaus asks.

“My sisters sent this for you, actually. But I’ll give it to you later.” Dave whispers and Klaus smiles. He would definitely wear that whenever he got the chance to. It looked so Dave and he couldn’t wait to have that wrapped around his body.

Klaus opens his box to find some new pens and pencils as well as a brand new notebook. Klaus smiled because he had just recently reached the end of his old notebook and was in need of a new one if he was going to keep writing letters to his siblings. Speaking of...

“Did none of your siblings write you back?” Dave asks noticing the lack of letters in front of Klaus. There’s a disappointed look on Dave’s face when Klaus shakes his head.

“I told you that I wouldn’t get anything.” Klaus shrugs. “I promise that it’s not a big deal.” His siblings weren’t even born yet so there really was no point in getting upset over it. Of course, Dave didn’t know that yet.

Dave sighs but drops the topic.

“Steph says that we’ve been missing out on some good music.” Dave then lists off the music Stephanie told him about.

“Oh! I know those songs!” Klaus says excitedly.

“What? They’re way too new for you to have heard them before. Where did you hear them?” Dave asks

Klaus totally blanks, forgetting anything and everything.

“Uh… Nevermind.” Nailed it.

~~~

_‘Julie and Stephanie,_

_Thank you Dears both very much for the new art supplies and notebooks. How did you know I was running low? Just for that, I’ll send you both some drawings from now on._

_I’ve always really liked doing art stuff but I could never really keep my focus on anything long enough to finish anything. But now my head is clear and I’ve done so much drawing! It would be rude of me to keep these to myself so please enjoy this drawing of your brother. He doesn’t know I drew that! Shh!_

_As for taking care of your brother, I shall gladly be his knight in shining armor! Watch out world, Klaus is coming!_

_You both are pretty sneaky sending that jacket! (Which I will be wearing everyday, Dave will have to fight me for it if he wants it back.)_

_Thank you ladies,_  
_ Klaus’_

~~~

If night patrols weren’t the favorite time of Klaus and Dave before, they sure were now. They were always stationed farthest from anyone so that gave them an opportunity to have some fun. They had to be careful and quiet, of course, but this was the best time for them to get busy.

Like now when Dave’s fist was shoved into his mouth to keep himself quiet while Klaus went to town down below. Klaus’s mouth was like magic, nothing that Dave had ever experienced before. Of course Dave knew that Klaus was no virgin and neither was he, but he was still amazed nonetheless.

“K-Klaus.” Dave whimpered around his fist and moved his free hand to bury it in Klaus’s hair and messing it up further. It takes everything in him to keep from bucking his hips up into Klaus’s mouth.

Klaus licked up Dave’s length before looking up at him through his long lashes. Dave thought that that was the most beautiful sight that he’s ever seen and he almost came undone right then.

“Mm. I like the way you say my name when I’m making you feel good, Davey.” Klaus smirked and then took all of Dave into his mouth once more causing him let out a strangled sounding moan.

Klaus took hold of Dave’s hips and gently squeezed before untucking his shirt and running hands over his abs. Klaus could feel Dave shiver at the contact.

“Ah!” Dave squeaked out suddenly making Klaus quickly sit up.

“What?” Klaus asked, concerned that he did something wrong.

“Your hands are freezing!” Dave quietly exclaimed.

“And you’re a furnace so get your ass back over here and warm me up!” Klaus snorted and leaned forward to kiss Dave’s cheek.

Yeah, the nights where they could just be? Definitely the best. Dave’s favorites were when Klaus would sing to him. High or not Klaus liked to sing, especially when he was overtired and cuddly.

“Hey Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart then you can start to make it better.” Klaus began to sing. The two were sitting up against their tree just enjoying each other’s company.

“Hey Jude, don’t be afraid. You were made to go out and get her. The minute you let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better.” Klaus whispered, clutching Dave’s arm in a death grip like he might all of a sudden decide to get up and just leave him there.

Dave brushed soft curls off of Klaus’s forehead matted down by the helmet that he had been wearing all day. Klaus leaned into him more and continued to sing quietly.

“And anytime you feel the pain. Hey Jude, refrain. Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders. For well you know that it’s a fool, who plays it cool by making his world a little colder.”

Dave tilted his head and pressed a soft kiss on his forehead. Klaus looked at him and leaned his head up slightly. Dave met him halfway and kissed him sweetly.

Drawing was something Klaus picked up when he was struggling against his withdrawal. He used to do art all the time and he thinks that if things had turned out differently he would have made a half decent artist with enough practice.

But things never worked out the way Klaus wanted now did they? That’s a big fat no.

Klaus usually drew at night to distract himself when the nightmares got too bad, but recently he’s gotten braver and started to draw during rest periods and meal times.

He had definitely caught the attention of his brothers in arms and they start hanging around him to watch and request things. They tell him his art is good and that when he gets out of here he should become a professional artist. Klaus usually dismisses those comments though. He doesn’t believe that he’ll ever be good enough to sell his art at a high class level.

Dave really enjoys watching Klaus make his art. The way he sticks his tongue out slightly when he’s concentrating really hard on something, or the way that his nose scrunches up when he makes a mark that he doesn’t like before attacking it with an eraser.

Klaus likes to draw things for Dave. He hides them around where he knows that Dave will find them like little love notes. But his most favorite subject to draw _is_ Dave. He has an entire notebook dedicated to sketches of Dave -- not that Dave knows this.

There’s not a lot of time left in their tour, and Klaus is ready to get out of here. But as long as he’s with Dave, he can stick it out. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

~~~

_‘Benny!_

_You’re going to be really proud of me when I tell you that… (Let the suspense build for a second) I’m sober! I’ve missed you man, how’ve you been?_

_Shit, can ghosts get mail? Maybe I should address this to Five or someone so they can read it out loud because I’m assuming you’ll be hanging around them since I’m gone. Sorry about that man._

_They never believed me when I said that I could see you. Just assumed that I was begging for attention after you died._

_It’s just like the time when Daddy Dearest saw me in Grace’s heels and pushed me down the stairs and I needed to have my jaw wired shut for eight weeks. After I could talk again it had been too long and everyone just claimed I was begging for attention and that Dad would never do something like that. You were the only one who believed me, thank you for that by the way._

_Anyways… I’ve fallen in love! For real this time, I promise. His name is Dave and I’ve drawn you a picture of him so you can see what he looks like. Handsome, am I right or am I right? He doesn’t do drugs -- just the occasional joint but everyone does that here -- and he helped me get sober. I think you’d really like him._

_Maybe we could meet up in the afterlife? That would be really cool. Except you probably wouldn’t even recognize me because I’ll be all wrinkly and old! But I’m looking forward to the day when I can see you again. Maybe us two ghosties can finally go see a movie. We wouldn’t even have to pay we could just walk right on in!_

_Your human Ouija Board,_  
_ Klaustration_

_P.S._  
_ I still think that ‘Bentacles’ is a great nickname and you can’t tell me otherwise.’_

Please deliver to XXX on March 29th, 2019


	9. December, 1968

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus has a nightmare and Dave finally understands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah!!! I'm so sorry that I kinda disappeared for a bit there but I've been really stressed out with homework lately and I'm so tired all the time. But here's the chapter and I made it decently long as well!!! Love you all!

_~~~December, 1968~~~_

Eight whole shitty months. That’s how long it’s been since Klaus had been ripped from his own time and thrown into a brand new one all ass backwards. And as far as he knew, he only had four months to go! God this was not going how Klaus had imagined.

Scratch that. Klaus didn’t even think that he would be here that long to even imagine anything happening at all. He thought that he would just pick himself right back up and head back to the future with a briefcase to give to Five and sent along on his merry way with some extra brownie points with his genius brother.

But no. Then along came Dave to make him stop in his tracks and rethink his very simple one step plan. Because why would he go home when there was a hot piece of ass standing right in front of him? God he was such an idiot, an idiot in love.

And speaking of love, no they haven’t said it to each other yet. Klaus had always struggled with that level of intimacy. If Dave said it to him first, he would probably be able to say it back, and he would definitely mean it if he said it. But they felt love towards each other and for now that was enough for them.

_He was trapped inside the mausoleum once again. It was cold and the ghosts stood way too close and screamed in his ears._

_Klaus hadn’t been in the mausoleum since he was a kid but there he was all grown up and huddled in that damn corner. He wanted nothing more than to stand up and open those fucking doors because goddamn it he was an adult and he couldn’t be treated this way anymore._

_But he was stuck. An invisible force held him in place and he could only watch everything play out from underneath his own arms that covered his face._

_The ghosts loomed over him and their gross ghostly fluids dripped on him while they screamed and cried. Klaus’s breathing sped up and he felt the hair on the back of his neck and arms stand up straight. He knew this was a dream but it was just so… Real._

_This had been the only thing Klaus had dreamed about for days now. It didn’t matter how much or how little sleep he got, this one in particular seemed to not want to leave his subconscious. Klaus didn’t know what it even meant even though it was the same dream over and over again._

_Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar face. He had a pained expression on his face but he stayed where he was. Blood dribbled out of his chest cavity with every breath he took and stained his already filthy boots._

_“Klaus!” He shouted._

He was being shaken awake again for the third time that week. Klaus’s eyes shot open and was met with Dave’s own concerned ones.

Klaus sat up with Dave’s hand held firmly on his shoulder. Klaus took quick breaths as he attempted to calm himself down. Dave helped him up off the bed and led him outside the tent and to their usual spot by the crates.

Dave helped Klaus sit down and then sat down himself. He placed a hand against Klaus’s head and pulled him towards his chest so his ear was right up against his heart. The soothing rhythm seemed to have a calming effect on the skinny man.

“It was just a dream Darlin’. It wasn’t real.” Dave whispered and pressed a kiss to the top of Klaus’s head. The reassurance only seemed to make Klaus shake more and Dave tightened his embrace.

Dave started to hum a song in hopes of giving Klaus something else to focus on. Klaus wrapped his trembling arms around Dave’s body and he felt tears soak into his shirt.

The hand on Klaus’s head buried itself in his hair and rubbed absentminded circles against his scalp. Dave’s free hand came to rest on Klaus’s back and rubbed circles there too.

They sat like that for a long time, Dave humming with Klaus’s long limbs locked around him.

“Didn’t feel like a dream.” Klaus’s voice was so quiet that Dave almost didn’t hear him, it made him stop humming immediately.

“I know Honey.” Dave pressed a kiss to the top of Klaus’s head again and he felt Klaus nuzzle into his chest. “But I’m here to protect you.”

“The… You know the stories that I tell all the guys?” Klaus asked finally picking his head up to look at Dave.

“Of course.” Dave leaned down to press a kiss to Klaus’s nose.

“Well they’re real. I’m not making them up they actually happened to me. My siblings and I were really superheroes and I can actually see the dead.” Klaus was starting to ramble and he knew that he should slow down but once he started it was too hard to stop because if he stopped he didn’t know if he’d be able to start again.

“I know that this is a lot to take in but I’m also not from here, Davey. I’m from the future, the actual future. And I know that this is really going to sound crazy and you might think that I’m back on drugs but I promise you that I’m not. I’m from the year 2019 and I got sent here by accident.”

Dave was quiet and that just made Klaus start crying again. He didn’t believe him, he thought Klaus was crazy. Dave was going to tell Klaus that he didn’t want to be with Klaus anymore.

“I trust you.” Dave says.

Those three words made Klaus go completely silent. He looked up at Dave with tears in his eyes that had gone as wide as dinner plates.

Dave placed a hand to the side of Klaus’s face and wiped a tear from underneath his eye.

“You do?” Klaus asked so quietly he may as well have just mouthed it.

“Why would I doubt you?” Dave asked with a sad look on his face. He didn’t like when Klaus looked so sad.

Why would Dave doubt him? Because Klaus sounded crazy? Because he sounded high? Off his rocker? Deranged? Screwy? Berserk? Mad? Nutty? Bonkers? Loony? Honestly just pick one and it would describe Klaus perfectly.

“You don’t have to lie to me.” Klaus said sadly turning and pressing his face against Dave’s chest again.

Dave exhaled sharply through his nose and Klaus felt it on the top of his head. “I’m not lying, Klaus.”

“What if I proved it to you?” Klaus asked even though he had no idea how he would even do that. He got out of Dave’s hold and started to focus on the ghosts around him.

“Klaus, I believe you.” Dave tried to pull Klaus back down.

“I just… Dave I need to do this for me because somewhere in my brain it’s telling me that you’re just trying to humor me. Please, just let me do this.” Klaus pleaded. Finally Dave just nodded and folded his hands in his lap.

Klaus took a deep breath and focused in on the ghost closest to him. He dug deep down in his mind for all the lessons Reginald crammed into his young brain and brought them to the surface.

He felt his hands get warm and without looking down he could see out of his peripherals that they had a blue glow to them. The ghost in question also had a blue glow and he looked around in confusion before starting to yell.

This broke Klaus’s concentration and sent him into a panic, banishing the ghost entirely. Everything was quiet.

“Klaus? Honey, what the hell was that?” Dave finally spoke, his eyes wide and jaw dropped.

“I did it.” Klaus whispered to himself and looked at his hands. A wide smile spread across Klaus’s face and he bounced on his heels and threw his arms around in a silent cheer -- there were still people sleeping and he didn’t want to draw attention to him and Dave.

“Klaus?” Dave asked again.

“Fuck you Reggie I don’t need you!” Klaus whisper shouted. “Take your stupid special training and shove it so far up your ass that you-”

“Klaus!” Dave grabbed Klaus’s wrist to gain his attention. “What the hell just happened?” Dave asked.

“That, Davey baby, was a ghost.” Klaus smiled. “A ghost that I just conjured and then banished.”

“Ok… Ok, uh… Wow. Now that we’re both on the same page of believing you, I think I need a big explanation.” Dave asked.

Klaus sat back down next to Dave and gripped his hand tightly in his own. Now that he was coming down off of his adrenaline rush he was getting really tired, he would have to practice more often if he was going to get this right.

“Remember when I told you that I saw my dead brother?” Klaus asked and waited for the puzzle pieces to click in Dave’s brain.

“You can actually see him.” He said quickly and Klaus nodded.

“Ben told me that when they went out on a mission, our brother Luther was the one to give Ben the order that killed him. Ben has a monster living in his stomach and he said that it had been acting up that day.”

_“Ben, use the Horror on that guy before he gets away!” Luther shouted as they all ran after him. Five was gone so spacial jumps were out of the question._

_Ben felt the Horror thrash around inside of him, clearly not liking that idea. But before Ben could tell Luther that he continued to scream at him._

_“You haven’t been pulling your weight Ben! Damn it, get on it!” Luther’s voice boomed at him._

_Ben felt the Horror burst out of his stomach without his permission and grab the perp in front of them, ripping him limb from limb. They all stopped running once he was caught._

_“It’s about fucking time!” Luther growled and then he, Allison and Diego watched as Ben fell to the ground as blood and gore sprayed all over him._

_Something didn’t feel right to Ben when the Horror finished its job. Ben was breathing heavily and tried to recall them back to him, still lying on the ground. The tentacles rose higher and higher before quickly bolting back down and turning on Ben._

_The Hargreeves watched horrified as the Horror ripped their brother apart and finally collapsed in a heap on top of their dismembered host._

“Klaus…” Dave petted Klaus’s hair and Klaus took a deep breath.

“I told you that I wasn’t allowed to go to the funeral. They put up a statue of him in the courtyard back home. Ben thinks it looks nothing like him.” Klaus chuckled.

“Uh, what else? My brother Five went missing when we were thirteen. We were convinced that he was dead until he reappeared for Dad’s funeral. Can’t spell funeral without a little fun, I guess.” Klaus smiled to himself.

“He has some time travel powers and he can spacial jump. If you don’t know what that means, essentially he can disappear from one end of the room and reappear on the other side. It’s a lot more complicated than that but you get the idea.

“So as kids he really wanted to time travel but our Dad never let him because he said it was way different than spacial jumps. God was he right for once.

“Five got mad at him and ran away and he must have time traveled way far into the future because he ended up in the aftermath of an apocalypse. It took him about 45 years to get back to us. We had just finished up Dad’s funeral and were off being pissed at each other in separate rooms when he showed up.” Klaus smiled at the strange memory.

“Speaking of the funeral. Reginald just up and died -- thank god honestly -- so we all went to the house to get our inheritance. I’m not allowed to have mine until I can prove that I won’t spend it all on drugs.” Klaus rolled his eyes at Pogo’s stupid rule, he was surprised that Reginald left him anything at all or maybe it was Pogo that arranged that.

“My sister Vanya as you know doesn’t have any powers so she was left out of everything. God she’s the sweetest thing I wish I wasn’t such an asshole as a kid and included her in stuff. But I was a dumb kid and was high half of the time so she wouldn’t have wanted to hang out with me anyways.

“So after we all left the academy she wrote a book about us. It was about her time in the Umbrella Academy as powerless Number Seven. It really crossed some lines and was borderline rude but I guess we deserved it. But even though it hurt my feelings I forgive her.” Klaus had forgiven Vanya a long time ago but had never admitted it out loud before.

“I don’t remember what day it was when I got kidnapped. It’s all a blur really and I really want to block those memories. Some highly trained assassins kidnapped me from my own home and held me hostage to get information on my brother Five. I knew nothing but they couldn’t exactly just let me go.

“The night that I escaped there was a nice cop lady that I vaguely recognize from other times when I got taken down to the station for public intoxication. I don’t remember her name but I remember her being a sweet lady.

“She broke into the room I was being held in and untied me. I told her that they were hiding in the bathroom and then they started shooting at her. I crawled into the vent and escaped that way. I heard more shots but I don’t know what happened to the cop or if the assassins are still alive. I made it onto the bus and then ended up in 1968. Out of one hell and straight into another.” Klaus sighed in relief of finally getting that off of his chest.

“Klaus.” Dave breathed out sadly. “I’m so sorry Honey.”

“No, I don’t want pity.” Klaus pouted. “I just want to forget that it happened, ok?” Klaus asked and Dave nodded.

“Let’s end on a happier note. Uh… My Mom is a robot and my old butler is a walking and talking monkey.” Klaus just stops talking after that.

“Excuse me what?” Dave chuckles.

“You heard me.” Klaus smiled mischievously.

Dave presses a kiss to Klaus’s lips and they sit there enjoying each other’s company.

“Hey. Are you ok?” Dave nudged his boot against Klaus’s.

Klaus nudged Dave’s boot right back. “Yeah. Yeah I’m ok.”

~~~

_‘Vanya!!!_

_My love! My light! Oh how I’ve missed you my Dear! I miss your violin so much and I really want to go to your next concert because I feel bad that I’ve never been to one before. The ones you held when we were young hardly count because I want to see you on a stage with the spotlights and I want to dress up all nice!_

_What’s new with you Darling? I feel that when we all met for Reggie’s funeral we didn’t see much of each other and I apologize for that. My head wasn’t in the right frame of mind. But it is now! I’m sober!_

_I would suggest us getting together for brunch but that wouldn’t work out because…. Well you already know._

_God I miss those times when we were kids and you would let me do your hair while you were studying. Even though you always made me put your hair back to how it was I really enjoyed those times we spent together._

_I’ve started doing art again! Here are some drawings of flowers that reminded me of you. Thank you for always encouraging me to keep drawing and I’m sorry that I stopped when Five disappeared. I’m sorry that I went on a destructive rampage when he left and broke all my supplies and destroyed all my pieces and I’m sorry that when you tried to help me I snapped your violin bow in half._

_Even though you don’t have powers I still think you deserved a place on the team. You could have been lookout with me! That would have been so fun! Or we could have taught you how to wield a sword or a battleaxe! That would have been so badass! Talk about feminist superheroes, you would have been right up there with Wonder Woman!_

_Those pills that you take… Dad gave you those right? I know they’re for your anxiety and stuff but I don’t ever remember him taking you to an actual doctor at all. I know that Grace is our at home doctor but I don’t think a robot is qualified to hand out prescriptions… I love her dearly but part of my pill popping problem was because all of those meds were so easily accessible._

_Anyways, since we’ve established that old Reggie was an asshole maybe we should think about lowering your dosage on those things. Anything given to you from Reginald has to be some kind of terrible trick._

_I don’t know why but I just don’t trust those pills. I’ve had a bad feeling about them ever since I saw you take some at the mansion. I never had that feeling when we were kids but now there’s just something about them that just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s totally up to you Darling but just keep that in mind please, for me._

_I suppose that’s all I have to say for now. Wow I didn’t even realize that I’ve basically written a novel at this point… Wait shit I didn’t mean that… Whoops, too soon?_

_Love you lots,_  
_ Klausula'_

Please deliver to XXX on March 29th, 2019


	10. January, 1969

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years Bitches!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don’t like John Mulaney then you might not like this chapter because it’s filled with his jokes. I’m sorry for my absence but I tried to make up for it with jokes...

~~~January, 1969~~~

It’s 1969 baby! The sexiest year to be alive -- besides 6969 but we won’t get into that -- according to Klaus. And what better way to kick off the new year than with some more R&R time with the boys!?

Dave and Klaus’s closest friends have pretty much figured everything out by now and are surprisingly decent about it. Yeah they make the occasional joke or jab at them but they mean no harm. They new guys at camp often question them but everyone else just accepts that that’s their dynamic so if the new guys try and start shit they’ll get a healthy dose of ass kicking.

Here’s the scene, Klaus and Dave are in the same place as they were their last break. That’s right! The tattoo parlor! Here we go again…

Klaus and Dave had decided to get matching tattoos on their stomachs with a secret meaning. It was a pyramid design with ‘Klaus loves Dave’ and ‘Dave loves Klaus’ written in a foreign language so no one could read it besides Dave and Klaus. The whole adventure took a while but four hours later they were on their way to meet their friends for dinner.

They met at a decently popular Vietnamese restaurant and all crammed together at a smallish table since they had no other bigger tables to fit them all. During the dinner Klaus never hesitated to wave down their waitress to order them another round of drinks.

“Well I guess this is going on Spook’s tab.” Bill announced after realizing how expensive their meal was going to be with how many drinks Klaus kept ordering for the table.

“Fine with me!” Scott snorted happily and downed another drink. Everyone was quite drunk at this point.

“Fuckin’ do it!” Klaus exclaimed. “Daddy’s rich my dudes so rack it up!” He added.

It got quiet at the table before the rest of the guys started cheering along.

“How rich is he?” Tommy finally asks for the group.

Klaus drunkenly shrugs and counts on his fingers. “‘Bout a… Billion!” He says like no big deal. The guys freak out again and order another round.

After another round of drinks, Klaus was beginning to loosen up more than ever. Quite so to the point where he was just telling jokes that he ripped off from John Mulaney -- one of his favorite comedians because they had a similar sense of humor -- and it was perfect because no one at the table would even know who that was!

Klaus quiets his friends and begins his routine of some of his favorite jokes.

“This is so great. Thank you for coming. You’re here. That’s great. You all showed up. I appreciate it.” Klaus starts. Dave and the others seem confused as to what was going on but listened to Klaus anyways.

“And then I showed up so you got to see the things that you paid to see. That’s great. You don’t always get to see the things that you paid to see. Ever been to the goddamn zoo?” Tommy let out a snort and nodded.

“Those guys are never where they’re supposed to be. Every time I go to the zoo I’m like, “Hey, where’s the jaguar?” And the zoo guy is like, “He must be in the inside part.” The inside part? Tell him we’re here!” The guys were laughing now and more willing to put up with Klaus’s drunk antics so they gave him their full undivided attention.

“Thirteen year olds are the meanest people in the world. They will make fun of you but in an accurate way.” Klaus got real serious for a moment.

“They’ll be like, “Hey, look at that high waisted-man. He got feminine hips.” And I’ll be like, “No! That’s the thing I’m sensitive about!” Klaus pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

Dave laughed and ruffled Klaus’s hair in sympathy.

“Is anyone here good driver?” Klaus asked his friends who all nodded. “I’m one of the worst drivers I’ve ever seen.” The group chuckled.

“I believe that in a second.” Bill said loudly and the others laughed right along with him.

“When I’m driving people expect to see a hundred year old blind dog who’s reading while driving and drinking a smoothie. Instead they just see a thirty year old healthy man trying his best.”

Klaus thought for a moment about his next joke and how he would adjust it to fit the time.

“Do you ever think about what a TV show about real estate would be like?” The guys shook their heads no.

“I have. Every episode of it would be like, “Craig and Stacia are looking for a two-story A-frame that’s near Craig’s job in the downtown but also satisfies Stacia’s need to be near the beach, which is nowhere near Craig’s job. With three children and nine on the way, and a max budget of $7, let’s see what Lori Jo can do on this week’s episode of ‘You Don’t Deserve A Beach House.’”

“It was so easy to get away with bank robbery back in the ‘30s.” Klaus didn’t hesitate to roll right into his next joke.

“Like, as long as you weren't there when the police arrived, you had a 99% chance of getting away with it. To the point that they would take credit for the robbery.” Klaus put on his best, ‘Old timey bank robber’ voice. “If anyone asks you tell ‘em it was Golden Joe and the Suggins Gang!” Then they would shoot ‘Suggins’ into the side of the building, like were bullets free back then?”

That one really hit Scott hard and he almost fell out of his chair from laughing so hard.

“On a more serious note, walking home one day I once say a wheelchair knocked over on its side. That is such a sad thing to see because something happened there. You hope it was a miracle. But probably not. Probably something worse than a miracle happened there.”

“Did any of you have great parents?” Only Tommy nodded this time.

“My parents trusted every grown up more than they trusted me.” Klaus started to explain.

Scott clapped loudly and shouted, “Ain't that the truth!”

“I don’t mean coaches and teachers. Any human adult’s word… Was better than mine. Any hobo or drifter could have taken me by the ear up to my front door and been like, “Excuse me! Your kid bit my dick.” And my mom would be like, “Klaus Hargreeves, did you bite this nice man’s dick?” And I would be the only one who’s like, “Hey, doesn’t anyone wanna know why… His dick was near my biters… In the first place? Isn’t anyone curious… As to how I had access?”

“Yikes!” Bill hissed.

“My dad is some kind of lawyer and he was a debate team champion. So he would pick us apart psychologically.” Bill laughed.

“One time I was at the dinner table when I was like six, because I had to be.” Klaus slightly rolled his eyes and Dave laughed into his hand trying not to interrupt Klaus with his laughter. Klaus smiled at him.

“My dad goes, “How was school today?” I said, “It was good but someone pushed Tyler off the seesaw.” “And where were you?” “I was over on the bench.” “And what did you do?” “Nothing. I was over on the bench.”” Tommy laughed every time he said bench.

“I sense a pattern here.” Bill said matter of factly and raised his eyebrows at Klaus.

““But you saw what happened?” “Yeah, ‘cause I was over on the bench.” “So you saw what happened and you did nothing?” “Yeah, ‘cause I was sitting over on the bench.” “Let me ask you this. In Nazi Germany…”” That’s when Scott lost it and fell out of his chair for real this time.

““When people saw what the Nazies were doing and did nothing, were those good people?” “No, those are bad people. You gotta stop the Nazis.” “But you saw what they were doing to Tyler and you did nothing!” “Because I was over on the bench!” And then my dad said, “Just explain to me this. How are you better than a Nazi?”” Bill -- who was helping Scott off of his ass -- laughed hard and dropped Scott back on the ground.

“And then my mom said, “I made a salad with Craisins!” And the conversation ended.” Klaus finished that joke with a shrug and Dave laughed hard into his sleeve.

Klaus loved seeing Dave smile and laugh and he was glad that he was the one who could make him laugh like that.

“Did you guys ever have assemblies in school?” Klaus asked his friends once they calmed down. They nodded at him in response.

“Ah, I remember the greatest assembly of them all, once a year Stranger Danger.” Klaus held his hands out in front of him displaying the ‘Hello’ ‘Goodbye’ tattoos on his palms.

“Yeah, the hottest ticket in town. You are gathered together as a school and you are told never to talk to an adult that you don’t know and you are told this by an adult that you don’t know.” Klaus said to Tommy seriously who looked close to losing it again.

“We had the same Stranger Danger speaker every year when I was a kid, his name was Detective JJ Bittenbinder.” The guys tried not to laugh so they could hear the story but Klaus stopped.

“Go ahead and laugh. His name is ridiculous! That was his name. It was JJ Bittenbinder.” Klaus explained and allowed the guys to laugh at his name some more.

“He was from the Police Department. He was a child homicide expert and…” The guys suddenly got extremely quiet and stopped laughing to sit there uncomfortably.

“Oh gee. Very sorry you guys, did that make you uncomfortable? Well, guess what? You’re adults and he’s not even here. So try being seven years old and you’re sitting five feet away from him. He’s still got blood on his shoes. And he’s looking at you in the eye to tell you for the first time in your very young life that some adults find you incredibly attractive. And they may just have to kill you over it. Ok, c’est la vie, go be kids, go have fun.” Klaus rolled his eyes and continued on with his story.

“Bittenbinder came every year. By the way, Detective JJ Bittenbinder wore three-piece suits. He also wore a pocket watch. Two years in a row, he wore a cowboy hat.” Klaus mimed putting on a cowboy hat.

“He also had a huge handlebar mustache. None of that matters, but it’s important to me that you know that. He was the weirdest goddamn person I ever saw in my entire life.” Klaus looked off into the distance like he was imagining the man himself.

“So Bittenbinder came every year with a program to teach us about the violent world waiting for us outside the school gym, and that program was called Street Smarts!”” Klaus suddenly exclaimed. He then put on his best impression of the man.

““Time for Street Smarts with Detective JJ Bittenbinder. Shut up! You’re all gonna die. Street Smarts!” Klaus pointed at each of his friends as he spoke.

“That was the general tone. He would give us tips to deal with crime. I will share some of the tips with you this evening. “Okay, tip number one. Street Smarts! Let’s say a guy pulls a knife on you to mug you.” You remember the scourge of muggings when you were in second and third grade.” Klaus shrugged casually.

“You know how a mugger thinks. “Man, I need cash for drugs right now. Hey, maybe that eight-year-old with the goddamn plastic wallet that only has blank photo laminate pages in it will be able to help.” The guys laughed.

““Let’s say a guy pulls a knife on you to mug you. What do you do? You go fumbling for you wallet. And you go fumbling for you wallet. Well, in that split-second, that’s when he’s going to stab you. So here’s what you do. You kids get yourselves a money clip.” Klaus pretended to hold up a money clip from out of his pocket.

“Okay, you can get these at any haberdashery.” Klaus said as if it was common knowledge.

“You put a $50 bill in the money clip and when a guy flashes a blade, you go, ‘You want my money, go get it!’ Then you run the other direction.” And our teachers were like, “Write that down.” We’re like, “Buy a money clip. Engraved, question mark?” Klaus pretended to be writing on an invisible notepad with a confused look on his face.

“You go home to your parents. “Hey, Dad. Can I have a silver money clip with a $50 bill in it, please? Don’t worry. I’m only going to chuck it into the gutter and run away at the first sign of trouble. The man with the mustache told me to do it.” Klaus rolled his eyes while Dave smacked the table with his fist in laughter.

““Tip number two. Street Smarts! Let’s say a kidnapper throws you in the back of a trunk…”” Klaus pronounced throws as, ‘trows’. “This was at nine in the morning. “Let’s say a kidnapper throws you in the back of a trunk. Don’t panic.”” Klaus acted this next part out for the guys.

““Once you get your bearings… Find the carpet that covers the taillight, peel back the carpet, make a fist, punch the taillight out the back of the car, thus creating a hole in the back of the automobile, then stick your little hand out and wave to oncoming motorists to let them know that something hinky is going on.” Can you imagine driving behind that? I think they’re turning left.”.

Someone who seemed to be in a management position was walking over to them with an angry expression on their face and they took that as their cue to leave.

“We haven’t paid yet.” Dave whispered.

“Well I don’t exactly have the funds to do so now do I Davey?” Klaus whispered back as they rushed out of the restaurant.

The two end up back in their hotel room and Klaus doesn’t waste much time dragging Dave into bed with him, tired from a long day. Klaus crawls on top of Dave and sprawls himself over him and lets out a loud sigh.

“I’d tell you to get off because my stomach is still sore but you’re just too damn cute when you’re tired.” Dave chuckles.

Klaus groans and rolls off of Dave. He sits up and pulls Dave’s shirt off of him and runs a gentle finger over the fresh ink.

“Absolutely stunning my darling.” Klaus smiles and takes his own shirt off.

Dave pulls Klaus back on top of him so he’s straddling his hips. “And you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid eyes on.” Dave was always sappy when he was drunk. He was sappy in general.

Klaus leans down to press soft kisses to Dave’s mouth. Dave wraps his arms around Klaus and pulls him down and rolls so they’re both laying on their sides. They don’t hesitate to fall asleep in each other’s warm and loving embrace.

~~~

_‘Mother Dearest and Pogo,_

_I’ve thought about writing this letter a million times in my head and each time I can’t think of anything to even say. It’s hard to say much at all when you can barely remember the sound of your voices._

_Mom, I miss you every day. I miss your tight embraces when I wake up screaming in the middle of the night from a nightmare. I miss your cooking, enough said there. I miss your smile and the way that I always knew that you were proud of me even when I messed things up._

_I miss the way you told me you loved me after every time I overdosed. The way you told me you loved me after every time Reginald locked me up in that mausoleum. The way you told me you loved me after every mission where I was lookout. The way you told me you loved me whenever I was pushed aside or looked over or beat down. The way I knew you loved me even when I was an asshole._

_Pogo I even miss you buddy. Even though you helped old Reginald out in basically abusing us, I knew that deep down you still loved us and didn't really want us to be treated that way. I forgive you._

_Here’s some big news that you both have been waiting to hear forever now. I’m sober! And I have a boyfriend that isn’t a drug dealer. Surprised right? Well it was bound to happen eventually I guess? His name is Dave and he is the light of my life._

_Where am I might you ask? Well, I'm in the past, 1968 in the middle of the Vietnam War. It’s not a pretty sight but I’ve made it nine months now. After the next month is over and done with Dave and I are getting out of this warzone and getting a place together where we can just be happy together without all of the fighting and harassment. Where there’s no Reginald and no apocalypse._

_And speaking of that… I’m sorry to leave you all to that without me but what was I really going to do? I’m not exactly the best person to help out since my powers aren’t that useful in the first place._

_Anyways, I’m writing to wish you the best. Mom? Go out and see the world and not just your paintings. Pogo? I’m not exactly sure what you do but I hope your research goes well. I love you both._

_Best wishes,_   
_Number Four Klaus Hargreeves’_

Please deliver to XXX on March 29th, 2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was literally in the middle of a tornado watch when I wrote the first paragraph and was extremely tired.


	11. February, 1969

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh...... I think y'all already know...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally was so excited -- is that bad? -- to write this I wrote this all in one day and needed to post it immediately. Hope you all enjoy!

_~~~February, 1969~~~_

It started with a nightmare. These things normally do. Klaus sat up suddenly in his cot shaking and not from the slight chill in the air.

_It was too dark. Too dark and too crowded. Too many ghosts in one place._

_“Klaus!” One ghost called his name but Klaus didn’t look up to see who it was. He curled in on himself in the corner of the mausoleum he seemed to be glued in. He’s been here before._

_“Klaus.” A softer voice called out. This time Klaus did look up to meet eyes with Dave standing in the ocean of angry and confused spirits._

_“Dave?” Klaus whispered. Dave walked forward and Klaus knew that something was wrong. A shot rang out and down went Dave. The ghosts disappeared at that moment and they were suddenly in the battlefield, their brothers in arms alongside them screaming orders._

_Klaus was at Dave’s side in an instant and he watched as blood pooled out of the bullet wound in Dave’s chest and soaked into his shirt._

_“Dave!” Klaus shouted and pressed his hands against the wound to slow the bleeding._

_“Medic! Medic!” Klaus cried, he’d been in this position before and he knew that no one was coming to help them. Klaus brought one hand up to Dave’s face and patted at it gently._

_“Dave! Look at me.” Dave nodded and coughed up blood._

_“Oh shit!” Klaus called out for a medic again. He petted Dave’s hair and tried to soothe the obviously suffering man as Klaus tried not to cry._

_“Hey, look at me. Hey hey hey.” Klaus applied more pressure to the wound and Dave let out a groan. “Hey hey. Please please stay with me Dave.” Klaus wrapped an arm around Dave’s neck to keep it supported as he tried to choke out final words. Klaus held Dave to his chest and cried into his hair._

_“Please stay with me Dave, stay with me no no no no no no no.” Klaus cried until Dave stopped sputtering on his own blood. He cried until he saw the ghostly figure of Dave appear next to them._

_He had an angry look on his bloodstained face and it was directed right at Klaus. Klaus froze in place and stared straight at him. Dave was dead._

_“This is all your fault, Klaus. This never would have happened if it weren’t for you. You should have just gone right back where you came from instead of infecting our lives with you. You’re more trouble than you’re worth.” Ghost Dave glared at him._

_“N-No, Dave. No Dave I’m sorry I didn’t mean to let this happen. You weren’t supposed to die. We… We were supposed t-to leave and start a life together. Dave! I’m sorry!” Klaus cried._

_“Klaus!” Ghost Dave shouted and Klaus buried his face in physical Dave’s neck and cried, trying to block out Ghost Dave’s voice. “Klaus!”_

“Klaus?” Dave whispered having woken up from Klaus’s whimpering in the bed next to him. He got out of bed and was at Klaus’s side in an instant. Dave brushed curls off of Klaus’s sweaty forehead and held his face in his hands.

“Klaus, hey. Darlin’ are you ok?” Dave whispered petting Klaus’s hair. Klaus leaned forward into Dave and buried his face into his neck.

Dave felt Klaus shake as he held him and he could do nothing but squeeze him tight against him.

“Shh.” Dave soothed and massaged Klaus’s scalp with his fingers.

When Klaus finally calms down he’s practically unresponsive.

“Hey.” Dave whispers. “Do you want to go outside and talk about it?” He asks, running his thumb under Klaus’s eyes to swipe away any stray tears.

Klaus shakes his head no. No he doesn’t want to talk about it because what if it comes true when he releases the words into the air? What if when he’s done talking about it Dave decides that he doesn’t want to be anywhere near Klaus in case it comes true? So no. Klaus doesn’t really want to talk about it.

“Lie down Darlin’.” Dave whispers and helps him do so. He picks his jacket up from floor and drapes over Klaus for comfort before pressing a soft kiss to Klaus’s forehead.

Dave then quietly moves his cot closer to Klaus’s and holds out his hand. Klaus takes it and Dave squeezes in comfort. Only then does Klaus close his eyes and fall back asleep.

The next morning during breakfast, Klaus is still out of sorts. Most of the guys have taken notice so they’ve been staying out of his way in case they set him off accidentally.

Dave approaches with their food in hand and hands Klaus his tray. It’s just the two of them right now with no wandering ears to be found.

“Sweetheart what’s wrong?” Dave asks worriedly. Klaus has never acted this way after a nightmare, something really must have spooked him.

“I… I just don’t have a good feeling about today.” Klaus finally says.

Dave reaches out and places a comforting hand on Klaus’s knee and squeezes. “It’ll be fine. It’s just residual nerves from your dream last night. My offer still stands to listen if you want to talk about it.” Dave offers and not for the first time that day.

“S’fine Davey. I’m ok.” Klaus says unconvincingly.

When it came time to head out for their patrols, everyone was nervous to let Klaus come with them. But the stubborn man refused to leave Dave’s side and insisted that he come along.

The longer they walked, the more the sense of dread hanging over Klaus increased. He was stationed in the middle -- so the guys could keep an eye on him so he didn’t wander off -- of the line and Dave was near the back which terrified him greatly because he couldn’t see him but he couldn’t do anything about it.

There was also a substantial amount of ghosts lingering the walkways. Like this place was a hotspot for them or something. Whatever it was made Klaus grip his gun that much tighter.

One of the ghosts picked up on the fact that Klaus could see them and started to follow him while groaning. He was an American soldier but luckily Klaus didn’t recognize him.

He started to talk to him in a raspy voice that was extremely drawn out and uncomfortable to listen to when it was right next to his ear.

“Listen up you junkie toothpick.” Ah, so word has gotten around about who he was. “The guys that killed me are right up ahead. They’ll kill you lot too if you’re not careful.” The ghost informed him helpfully.

“Where?” Klaus whispered.

“They’re hiding in the trees and in the grass. As soon as you pass that treeline into the clearing is when they’ll getcha.” The soldier tells him.

“Up ahead.” Klaus says quiet enough so no one besides their group could hear. “In the trees and grass once we get into the clearing.” Klaus adds.

They approach quietly as to not alert the enemy before they were ready. Then Klaus watches as Dave and Gary pull the pins on a grenade each and launch them into the clearing before they all duck down for cover.

After the grenades go off it’s quiet. And that’s when the shooting starts. Right now they have the cover of some trees and bushes. The ghost helps Klaus locate and take down some soldiers.

Once the shooting dies down again, Klaus’s group uncovers themselves and head to the clearing. They count the dead and Klaus makes his way over to Dave. A new ghost screams to get his attention but Klaus pegs it as an attention seeking whore of a ghost and ignores it.

“Christ on a cracker that was a close one, huh Dave?” Klaus asks but never gets a response as he hits the ground with a brand new pain in his chest.

Klaus feels himself being flipped over and he sees Dave and sees his mouth moving but can’t hear the words coming out of his mouth due to a ringing in his ears. There’s a panicked look on his face and tears streaming down his face.

Hands press against the pain in his chest and tears slip down Dave’s face and onto Klaus’s own. Klaus sees someone fall dead out of a tree in the distance and suddenly everyone else is crowding around him.

“-ook at me. Please stay with me Klaus, stay with me no no no no no no no.” Dave cries and grips Klaus’s face in his and cries into his neck.

Klaus smiles in knowing that he saved Dave from that bullet. He summons all his strength to lift his arm and rest it on Dave’s head as a last comfort to the man that he loves, and closes his eyes.

_Klaus wakes up lying on the ground in a black and white picturesque area. Birds are singing and the pain he felt in his chest was gone._

_He hums and stands up to look around. Klaus sighs heavily and lifts his arms up to stretch just to test his revelation that any pain was gone. He sees something coming down the path._

_“Oh. Yoo-hoo!” Klaus waves at the figure approaching. It was a little girl on a bike. “Hello.” Klaus says when the girl stops._

_“Almost didn’t see you.” The girl says snarkily. “You blend right in around here. So pale and all.” The girl says._

_Klaus just hums and looks himself over._

_“They don’t have any sun down there?” The girl asks._

_“Down there?” Klaus asks confused. “Where am I?”_

_“Where do you think?” The girl huffs._

_Klaus sighs. “I’m not sure. I’m agnostic, so-”_

_“Doesn’t really matter.” The girl interrupts him. “You can’t stay here.”_

_“Why not?” Klaus asks._

_The girl huffs again. “To be blunt, I don’t really like you all that much.” Ouch, right to Klaus’s ego!_

_Klaus just hums in agreement. “Yeah, me neither. But wait a minute. Aren’t you supposed to love all of us?” He asks._

_The girl has the audacity to scoff at him. “Where’d you get that idea?” She asks. “I made you so I can pick and choose. And you don’t rub me the right way.” She looks him up and down._

_“Wait. So you… You made us?” Klaus crouches down to her level. “You made me?”_

_“Well, I made everything else, so I must’ve made you.” The girl shrugs and Klaus chuckles. “Why? Do you have another idea?”_

_Klaus shrugs. “Maybe. A couple.” He admits. “I don’t know.”_

_“Well, then, keep them to yourself.” The girl snaps. “Time is flying, so hurry up. He’s waiting for you.”_

_“Who is?” Klaus asks._

_The girl points off into the distance and Klaus spots a shack in the woods. Confused, he walks over to it and opens the door to reveal a barbershop. Looking around he saw pictures of his siblings hung up on the wall in frames._

_Klaus took a seat in the barber’s chair and sighed while looking up at the ceiling. He gripped the armrests tight as someone behind him draped an apron over him and tied it around his neck. He sighs again, this may as well happen._

_“Oh.” Klaus says as the man wraps a towel around his face. “Oh! Oh, yeah. That feels so nice.” Klaus feels himself being spun around in the chair._

_“What in God’s name took you so long?” Reginald Hargreeves voice cut through the air like the sharpest piece of shrapnel cutting your arm right open._

_Klaus removes the towel from his face. “Dad.” He says sadly. Not who he was expecting but then against who was he really expecting to meet here?_

_“I expected my son who can conjure the dead to have brought me forth days ago.” Reginald spat angrily._

_“Oh. Yeah, well, you see… It’s complicated. You know, I… I tried. I-” Klaus starts but Reginald starts spreading shaving cream all over his beard and Klaus spits when some of it gets into his mouth._

_“...did, but-” Klaus tries to continue but Reginald cuts him off again._

_“You were busy poisoning yourself.” Reginald ignores any attempt at an explanation._

_“Well, what do you expect? You’d just died. I was beside myself with grief.” Klaus says sarcastically._

_“Don’t you dare try to use me as an excuse for your weakness.” Reginald furrows his brows._

_“Oh, right, well, yeah, you had nothing to do with it.” Klaus becomes numb again. “Locking me in a mausoleum with corpses when I was thirteen? No, you’re right, it’s irrelevant.” He trails off as Reginald comes at his face with a razor._

_“Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah. Careful, Dad.” Klaus warns._

_“Don’t worry.” Reginald reassures. “You’re already dead.”_

_“Oh. Well, that’s a relief.” Klaus looks at himself in the mirror so he doesn’t have to look at Reginald._

_“You children like to blame everything on me.” Reginald says while starting to shave Klaus’s face._

_“Well, you were a sadistic prick. Not to mention the world’s worst father.” Klaus sighs._

_“I just wanted you to live up to your potential. You especially. You’re my greatest disappointment Number Four.” Nothing like a pep talk from dear old dad to get you through the fact that you’re dead, huh?_

_“You only scratched the surface of what you were truly capable of. If only you’d focused.” Reginald continues to scrape his face with the razor._

_“Wait, wait, wait What… What potential?” Klaus asks. He had no potential, he’d always just be a worthless, washed up child superhero junkie to everyone._

_“No, instead, you pump yourself full of poison because you’re afraid.” Reginald wasn’t done berating him, even in death. “Afraid of what? The dark?”_

_“You know, I suggest you get down off your high horse there, dear Papa. You never had our best interests at heart. Look at your precious Number One.” Reginald all but ignores Klaus’s statement._

_“I knew that the world would soon need him, need all of you, and I had to do what was necessary.” Reginald goes quiet and takes the razor off of his face. “Is he ok?” He asks._

_“Do you care?” Klaus finally meets Reginalds eyes._

_“Everything I did, everything I put you through, it was to prepare you, all of you, for something bigger than yourselves. You never understood that.”_

_Klaus sighs as Reginald tilts his head back to put the razor to his neck._

_“We were-” Klaus grabs his father’s hand to get his attention. “We were just kids. Little kids.”_

_“You were never just kids. You were meant to save the world.”_

_“Wait, wait. So you knew… Knew all about this? About the apocalypse?” Klaus asks._

_“I knew that I had to bring you all back together, one way or another. The fate of the world depended on it.”_

_“Wh-What? What are you saying?” Klaus furrows his eyebrows in confusion, trying to connect the dots._

_“The only way to get you all back together was something… Momentous.” All of the pieces clicked into place then for Klaus._

_“Wait. You- No. You don’t mean… You killed yourself? Oh, Christ, you could never do things the easy way, could you? You couldn’t have picked up a phone?” Klaus asked looking up as Reginald puts the razor back on his throat._

_“Would you have answered? Now, listen to me, Number Four. What I’m about to say is of great importan-” Klaus’s vision starts to go white and Reginald starts to fade from his view._

_“No, no, no, no, no, no, no.” Klaus groans. “I can’t. No, I can’t… I can’t go back. I can’t go back! No! Wait! Stay!” Klaus shouts._

Klaus can hear Dave’s voice and it is a relief to hear compared to Reginald’s condescending one.

“-you so much. I love you and I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to say it out loud before. A-And I wish I could trade places with you, you had so much life left to live. I love you, I love you, I love you.” Dave cries and Klaus finally opens his eyes to see him crying into Klaus’s hand that is gripped tightly in his own hand.

“I love you too.” Klaus rasps out. He can taste blood on his tongue.

“K-Klaus!?” Dave gasps. Klaus reaches out with his free hand and places it over Dave’s own.

“Hey Davey Baby.” Klaus smiles. Dave lunges forward at him and immediately attacks his mouth with kisses.

“How are you… How are you alive?” Dave asks when he finally breaks away from Klaus.

“Oh you know… God took one look at me and said, “No thank you”, and sent me back. She’s such a bitch, I’ll have you know that I’m pleasant to be around!” Klaus chuckled and noticed a lack of pain in his chest.

Klaus presses a hand against his chest and then goes to pull the neckline of his shirt down to find that the bullet wound -- that he knows for a fact went all the way through -- completely healed with only a trace of a scar left behind.

“Dave?” Klaus asks then. Dave gives him his full attention as if he didn’t Klaus would disappear.

“I have a crazy idea. Why don’t you come to the future with me?” Klaus suggests.

“W-What?” Dave asks, a smile appearing on his face.

“Think about it David! I can’t exactly go back out there from being dead!” Klaus argues.

“I don’t know, Klaus.” Dave was starting to worry himself about the unknown.

“C’mon Davey! The future is pretty swanky! We can get married! Legally, and have a big wonderful wedding!” Klaus bargains, knowing that would convince Dave no questions asked.

“Well… Fine. But only because now I'm picturing you in a suit walking down the aisle.” Dave smiles and leans in to kiss Klaus once again. “What do I need to do?” He asks.

“Grab everything you would never be able to live without, letter, momentos, anything. We can’t come back for any of it. When you’re grabbing my stuff can you grab the briefcase under my cot? Please don’t open it but it’s really important.” Klaus explains and Dave nods.

He presses one last kiss to Klaus’s mouth before getting up to grab their things. They were getting out of here. They were going to start a new life together.

Klaus finds a piece of paper and a pen next to his bed and he gets to work writing one final letter to his family. It’s honestly a true masterpiece and Klaus is so proud of it.

When Dave returns with all of their things packed up and Klaus finalyzes his letter and sets it on the table where he knew someone would find it. Klaus takes the briefcase from Dave and puts in the date.

“Hold on to our stuff and also me.” Klaus explains. Dave nods and takes a suitcase in each hand and wraps an arm around Klaus’s waist. Klaus opens the briefcase and they’re surrounded by blue light.

~~~March 29th, 2019~~~

Dave and Klaus find themselves on a bus. And not an army bus. A public transit bus filled with disgusting and angry people trying to go to and from work. He leans over to Dave and kisses him hard on the mouth in front of all of the passengers and for the first time in ten months he doesn't have to be afraid for his life. They both couldn’t be more relieved.

~~~

_‘Dearest Family,_

_Guess who’s back assholes!?’_

Please deliver to XXX on March 29th, 2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Things are looking up for our boys!


	12. March 29th, 2019

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and Dave get back to the future and have to help stop the apocalypse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some good fucking content. I'm back! My goal for chapters is 3,000 words minimum but here's over 9,000! And according to my friend, that's 1,000 words for each month I didn't update. So sorry about that.

_~~~March 29th, 2019~~~_

Getting inside of the mansion undetected wasn’t as difficult a task as Klaus thought it would be. Not that Klaus needed a reason to sneak back in, he had every right to be in the house just as much as anyone else.

But getting Dave inside was another story. This was all new for him. All of it. The year, the way people acted, and just being inside the mansion of a deceased billionaire was a lot to take in. So when Dave lingered in one spot for a second to marvel at the view, Klaus couldn't exactly blame him as he had done the exact same thing in Dave's time.

"Davey? I think we both need a shower before attempting to interact with anyone from my family." Klaus suggested, setting the briefcase and a suitcase on the floor of his bedroom and slid them both under his bed. Dave followed suit and nodded in agreement.

Klaus led Dave to the bathroom nearest to his room and closed the door behind them. Klaus sighed and stood in front of Dave to finally take a good look at him.

Dried blood coated his hands and there was some on his face as well. Klaus was certain that he didn't look much better but he smiled at his love and leaned in for a kiss.

They got undressed and Klaus turned the water on. As they waited for the water to heat up Dave marveled at Klaus’s ‘should have been fatal’ gunshot scar.

“I’m still really confused as to how you’re alive,” Dave whispered, running a cautious finger over the completely healed scar.

“Well the more I think about it, I don’t think that this was the first time that I’ve died.” Klaus shrugged and led Dave by the hand into the scalding water. The water at base camp was always cold and this was a shocking but refreshing change.

“What?” Dave asked, confused.

“Yeah, I think it has to do with my powers. This was the first really violent death I’ve ever had if you don’t count overdosing. I’ve never really thought about it too much before because I was too high off my ass to really piece it together.” Klaus chuckled.

“When you put it that way I guess it makes sense.” Dave agrees.

Showering together was something they rarely got to do. The communal showers didn't exactly count and if they had looked at each other wrong then they probably would have gotten killed. Their R&Rs were few and far between, so this was a change for them.

They got as clean as they could before deciding that some of the jungle muck would be sticking around for a while longer and would have to be tackled the next time around.

Klaus handed Dave a towel and they dried off.

"Just wrap the towel around yourself and grab your clothes. I have to find you some clean clothes that'll fit you." Klaus told him before they went back to Klaus's room.

Back in his room, Klaus found his favorite leather pants in a heap on the floor where he left them. He picked them up and started searching for a top for himself.

Klaus changed into his pants and a sunset themed tank top before excusing himself to go raid Diego's clothes for something that might fit Dave. The clothes Dave had with him now were lovely but Klaus was sure Dave would appreciate clothes that were cleaner than those. Luckily he was successful in finding the one article of clothing in Diego's wardrobe that wasn't black and he took it with him.

"Ok, Davey I have some black jeans and a dark blue t-shirt for you." Klaus smiled and held out his finds to Dave.

"Thank you Darlin'." Dave smiled and stepped close to press a kiss to Klaus's smiling mouth. Their dog tags -- now cleaned from their shower -- clinked against each other in a pleasant way.

As Dave changed into his new clothes Klaus pulled on his army vest. It was a strange comfort for him now and it felt weird without it on.

"I would like you to have these." Dave started and gained Klaus's attention.

Dave was holding out his dog tags to Klaus with a shy smile on his face. Klaus just smirked at Dave's sappiness.

"Oh why David!" Klaus started, wanting to tease Dave lovingly. "You want me to wear your class ring to the homecoming game! But won't people think we're… Together?" Klaus held one hand over his heart in fake shock.

Dave just smiled and put his tags over Klaus's head.

"Klaus," Dave said in a way that always made Klaus's heart melt on the spot. "I want to shout it from the rooftops."

"Ouch, my cold dead heart!" Klaus pouted. He took his own set of dog tags off and placed them over Dave's head in return. "Well, then I would be the happiest man alive if you wore mine in return."

Klaus takes a step back and accidentally steps on Dave’s clothes that were thrown halfhazardly on the ground and got something sharp in his foot. Klaus hissed in pain and held his barefoot in his hand. No amount of calluses or blisters on his feet could have protected him from that.

Dave bent down and picked up his jacket off the ground to inspect it.

“Are you ok Darlin’?” Dave asked worriedly.

Klaus sat down on his bed and rubbed his throbbing foot in his hands.

“Yeah, might’ve stepped on a pin or something on your jacket. Hurt like a motherfucker but I’m alright.” Klaus assured his boyfriend.

Dave pulled the dog Monopoly game piece out of a pocket in his jacket.

“Think you stepped on this son of a gun.” Dave chuckled and tossed it to Klaus who just groaned and let it fall in his lap.

Klaus stood up from his bed and fished his top hat piece from his vest pocket and walked over to the closest shelf. He uncaringly knocked everything off of the shelf onto the floor and placed the two game tokens next to each other.

Dave walked up from behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist resting his head on Klaus’s shoulder. Klaus reached up and rubbed his fingers gently against Dave’s face.

“I think it’s perfect Doll,” Dave whispered to him and pressed a kiss to Klaus’s jawbone. The two of them sway in place for a little while, just enjoying each other’s company and trying to comprehend the last few hours and what they were going to do now.

After a bit, Dave excuses himself to the bathroom again so Klaus sits on his bed with his head in his hands trying to comprehend the shit going on around him in peace.

This peace didn’t last very long because Five decided to make his presence known to him. He knocks quietly against the open door and Klaus turns to see Five leaned up against the doorframe.

“You ok?” Five asks.

“Yeah, I just… Long night.” Klaus supplies weakly.

“More than one, from the looks of it.” Five chuckles.

“Yeah,” Klaus says sitting up straight.

“Don’t remember the dog tags.” Five investigates.

“Yeah, they’re new.” Klaus didn't really feel like going into depth on the last ten months right at this very moment with his nosy genius brother.

“How about that new tattoo?” Five prods further, gesturing to the tattoo on his arm.

“You know, I don’t totally remember even getting it. As I said, it was a long night.” Klaus stood up from his bed.

“You did it, didn’t you?” Five said smugly.

“What are you talkin’ about?” As much as Klaus missed his siblings while he was gone, he forgot how exhausting it was to be around them most of the time.

“You know, I can recognize the symptoms, Klaus.” Five walked into the room.

“Symptoms of what?” Klaus sat down again, suddenly really tired.

“The jet lag. Full body itch.” Five starts to list everything that seemed to be wrong with him at that moment.

Klaus sighs.

“The headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up into your nose and through your brain.” Five finished his list with a smartass look that softened into sympathy.

Did Klaus feel this way when he first time traveled? He couldn’t remember it was such a blur. Either he was too busy trying to fit into the crowd and not be found out and didn’t notice, or it was true what they say and you don’t remember the pain.

“You gonna tell me about it?” Five’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.

Klaus ran his hands over his face. “Your pals, when they broke into the house and they couldn’t find you, they took me hostage instead.”

“And in return, you stole their briefcase.” Five gave Klaus a smirk that turned into a full-blown smile.

“Yeah. I thought there was money in it, or I could pawn it, you know, whatever.” Klaus sighed. “And then I opened it.”

“And the next thing you know, you were… Where? Or should I say when?” Five asked excitedly.

“What difference does it make?” Klaus rolled his eyes.

“What diff-- Uh-- Okay, how long were you gone?” Five asked.

“Almost a year.”

“A year? Do you know what this means?” Five asked, taking a step closer to Klaus.

“Yeah, I’m ten months older now.” Klaus closed his eyes and smiled.

“No, this isn’t any sort of joke, Klaus. Hazel and Cha-Cha will do whatever they can to get the briefcase. Where is it now?” Five started looking around the room.

“Nowhere you’ll be able to find it, little man.” Dave’s authoritative voice called out from the doorway.

Five swiveled around to the intruder and the pieces clicked in his mind.

“You didn’t.” Five turned back to Klaus with his usual serious look on his face.

“What does it matter? You wouldn’t understand anyway.” Klaus stood up and ran a hand through his hair.

“What I understand is that you brought someone back to the future with you and could have damaged the timeline!” Five raised his voice.

“All you need to know is that something happened and I couldn’t stay where I was anymore and I wasn’t about to leave Dave behind. So it was either I stay in 1969 and have it be really awkward or bring David back with me.” Klaus supplied and watched as more pieces clicked together in Five’s brain.

Five walked forward and grabbed Klaus’s arm to get a better look at the tattoo there.

“1969?... Were you in the Vietnam war?” He finally asked.

Klaus gave his brother finger guns. “Got it in one.”

Dave now walked into the room to stand by Klaus.

“He can’t stay, Klaus.” Five says sternly.

“Well Davey, here’s your welcome to the family, Dear.” Klaus joked lightly but regretted it seeing how Dave tensed up. He wasn’t used to being any type of intimate in front of strangers or anyone for fear of being rejected or ridiculed. How the fuck did sweet Dave come out of such a harsh homophobic environment?

“Oh good, you named it so now you’re attached to it.” Five muttered and rolled his eyes.

“Please can I keep him? I love him so much! He’ll treat me right! I promise!” Klaus begged teasingly.

Five doesn’t respond.

“How about we make a deal? Dave stays and I’ll tell you where the briefcase is and you can save the world.” Klaus bargains.

Five seems to think about it before nodding. “Fine, if it’ll shut you up. You can keep your boyfriend in exchange for the briefcase.” Again Dave tenses beside Klaus.

“Yay! You can be the flower girl at our wedding! It’s under the bed now please leave.” Klaus tells his brother.

Five grabs the briefcase from underneath Klaus’s bed. He heads towards the door but turns to face them one more time before he leaves and closes the door behind him.

“Klaus? Thanks for not destroying this thing like a dumbass. Dave? Don’t fuck this up.” Five then leaves.

“Aw, he likes you.” Klaus smiles. “Are you ok? You seem kinda tense.”

“Do your siblings know about… You know?” Dave asks timidly.

“About me liking dudes? Yeah. I came out to them when I was a teenager but even before then it was really obvious.” Klaus shrugs. “So you don’t have to worry about anything, no one in this house is going to make any comments about anything.” Klaus assures his boyfriend.

Dave seems to relax at least a little bit at that but it would take a lot of getting used to on his part.

Movement in his room makes Klaus turn. Ben was in the process of walking through the closed door. A smile breaks out on his face when he sees Klaus and he hurries over.

“Klaus! You’re back!” Ben exclaims happily. “Where did you go? Who… Is this?” Ben asks, finally noticing Dave standing next to Klaus.

“Klaus? Are you ok?” Dave asks, noticing Klaus spacing out and staring at the air in front of him. “Is it the ghosts?”

“Ben! God, I’ve missed you. Hold on one second while I…” Klaus trails off as he clenches his fists and focuses on manifesting his brother. Ben’s eyes widened at being conjured for the first time.

“Are you sober?” Ben asks and Klaus nods with a smile and gives jazz hands.

“Is this Ben?” Dave asks even though he didn’t have to. The way Klaus was interacting with the ghost made it very clear that these two knew each other well. And the fact that Klaus had shouted, ‘Ben’ only seconds before manifesting the ghost.

“Dave, this is my ghost brother Ben. Ben, this is Dave! Isn’t he precious?” Klaus ruffled Dave’s hair.

Dave’s entire face broke out into a blush and Ben just waved at him awkwardly.

Klaus and Ben caught up and explained the last ten months to him. Ben talked about what their siblings were up to the last few days while Klaus was gone. All the while the three of them went around Klaus’s room and dug up his stash to throw out.

When Klaus and Dave found the final baggie of pills in Klaus’s room they took it to the bathroom. Klaus crouched down in front of the toilet before dumping them in and flushing the toilet. Dave rubbed Klaus’s back in pride as they watched the blue pills disappear for good.

There was a knock on the door but neither man opened it.

“Busy,” Klaus said softly.

Luther barges in the room anyway.

"Seriously?" Ben scoffed at their brother's lack of respect towards others.

“Oh, good. You’re up. We need to talk.” Luther, having absolutely no boundaries, says when he steps in the room.

Klaus threw up his hands and rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“You, me, and the others. So meet me in the living room. Like, now-ish.” Luther says.

“Yeah, that sounds like a real rager, but my schedule’s already chock-full,” Klaus says, not even looking at his brother.

“Yeah, no time for that. The world’s ending in three days.” Luther then walks out of the room leaving behind a very confused Klaus, Dave, and Ben.

Luther was so unobservant he hadn't noticed Dave in the room or his corporeal brother who was supposed to be dead. Even Pogo was smarter than this ape. And he was an actual ape!

The three make their way downstairs to find everyone in the living room.

“Three days?” Allison asks, handing Luther a cup of coffee.

“That’s what Five said,” Luther says.

“The old bastard did mention the apocalypse, come to think of it.” Klaus said sitting down. “He just left out the part about how soon.” Ben sat next to Klaus and was no longer corporeal.

"Can we hurry this up? I would like to visit Patch at the hospital later." Diego pouts.

Klaus is happy to hear that the police officer that helped him was still alive.

Klaus pulled Dave down next to him and everyone else gave them a strange look.

“Klaus?” Allison asks. “Who is this?” She motions to Dave who is very uncomfortable under the stares of the super siblings.

“This is Dave, my boyfriend.” Is all Klaus says, they would find out more soon enough when they got their letters. And speaking of the letters, they must not have gotten them since no one has asked about that yet.

Before Dave could formally introduce himself Luther was already moving on.

“Let’s get off of Klaus’s weird shit for one minute we all know this isn’t going to last longer than two weeks.” Luther rolls his eyes to gain attention once more.

Klaus grabs Dave’s hand tightly and shakes his head in annoyance.

"What the fuck man?" Ben exclaimed but no one but Klaus could hear him.

Klaus pursed his lips in annoyance.

“Can we even trust Five? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Five’s a little…” Allison whistles and makes a hand gesture to suggest Five was going crazy.

Klaus chuckles. “Our little psycho.”

Dave elbowed Klaus who in turn stuck his tongue out at him earning another gentle jab from his boyfriend.

“He was pretty convincing.” Luther started. “If he wasn’t trying to stop an apocalypse, those lunatics wouldn’t be chasing him.”

Diego finally speaks up from one of the couches. “That’s why they were after him?”

“Yeah,” Luther says.

“What did Five even see?” Allison asks.

“Uh… Apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible.” Luther paused before clicking his tongue and moving on. “Okay. So, here’s the plan. Uh, we go through Dad’s research--”

“Wait, what?” Allison starts following Luther around the room. “Hold on.”

“Wait a tick, wait a tick, wait a tick,” Klaus speaks up. “What actually happened the first time around?”

“Yeah. What are you not tellin’ us?” Diego asks. “Come on, big boy, spit it out.”

Luther looks down at his coffee cup and lets out a sigh before, “We died.” He then takes a sip of his coffee.

“What was that?” Allison asks.

Luther coughs. “I said, uh, we died.”

Everyone looks at Luther in disbelief. Suddenly an umbrella pops out of a stand and opens, making Klaus scream suddenly.

The group, even Dave, starts to argue after that, everyone yelling over the top of each other.

“Is it just us?” Allison asks worriedly.

“Yes, it’s everybody,” Luther explains.

“In the house?” Diego questions.

“Like, the whole planet?” Allison tries again.

“No, outside the house. Everyone died.” Luther says.

"Are we talking about a real apocalypse here?" Poor Dave who wasn't entirely filled in asked Klaus who nervously nodded.

The group is interrupted when Vanya walks in.

“Hey.” She says cautiously, wondering why her siblings were all meeting without her knowing.

Ben crossed his legs. "Y'all are in trouble now."

“Hmm?” Allison hums and turns around to face her sister.

“What’s going on?” Vanya asks. A man none of the siblings besides Allison had seen before stands behind Vanya.

Klaus suddenly gets a chill throughout his whole body and he tenses up. Dave places his hand on Klaus’s shoulder in comfort.

Allison eyes the man behind Vanya. “It’s a family matter.” She says carefully.

Ben groaned at the stupidity of his siblings. "Don't say it like that!"

“A family matter.” Vanya shrugs. “So of course you couldn’t bother to include me.” She eyes Dave, wondering why this stranger was allowed to be there and she wasn't.

Two ghosts that Klaus has never seen in the house before slowly walk in the way that Vanya and the man had come in. They seemed infatuated with this guy and hung around him.

One was an older man that looked like the living person he was standing next to. The other was a younger woman that looked longingly at Vanya. Or was it resentment?

“No, it’s not like that. We were--” Luther started but Vanya interrupted him.

“Don’t let me interrupt,” Vanya said and turned to walk out of the room.

“Vanya wait.” Allison started to call after her. “I’ll fill you in later when we’re alone.”

“Please, please don’t bother.” Vanya turns back to look at her sister. “And I won’t either.”

Ben noticed the ghosts now and he turned to his brother who was staring intensely at them. "Klaus…"

The older ghost noticed Klaus looking at him and he started to move closer to him. His head was beaten in and he looked mad. Dave’s hands never left Klaus’s shoulders in his attempt to keep his boyfriend calm to the threat he couldn't see himself.

Ben monitored the situation in case he needed to step in.

“Vanya, that’s not fair,” Allison says.

“Fair?” Vanya gasps. “There’s nothing fair about being your sister.” Vanya started.

“You, boy.” The ghost growls and Klaus tries his hardest not to flinch. “That right there is my boy Harold Jenkins. He’s pretendin’ to be someone he’s not and he’s trickin’ that girl there.” He pointed at Vanya.

Klaus was shocked. This Harold Jenkins was tricking his sister? That wouldn’t stand.

“He killed me and he killed that poor girl Helen Cho right there.” The ghost continued.

“Helen Cho?” Klaus whispered to himself. That name sounded familiar. It didn’t matter at the moment though, Vanya was almost done chewing them all out and then it was go time on his end.

“I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember. And I used to think it was Dad’s fault, but he’s dead. So it turns out you’re the assholes.” Vanya turns to leave the room and the man follows after her after giving them all a harsh glare.

Klaus hurries after Vanya before anyone else can, Dave following close behind. He bumps into Harold on the way there but rushes right past him. Ben is close behind.

“Vanya!” Klaus shouts.

Vanya pauses in front of the doorway. Out of all the people she expected to follow her, Klaus was not at the top of the list.

“Vanya I have to tell you something.” Klaus stands right in front of her. By this time both of the ghosts that had been following Harold Jenkins were in the room with them too.

“Klaus I don’t exactly have time for this right now.” Vanya crosses her arms over her chest.

“That man that you’re with, isn’t who he says he is.” Klaus starts.

“Who, Leonard?” Vanya asks.

“That’s the thing. His name is Harold Jenkins and he killed two people. One of the ghosts said that he’s tricking you and I can prove it to you.” Klaus started to focus on conjuring the two ghosts.

“Klaus I really don’t have time for this, if you needed money all you had to do was-” Vanya didn’t have time to finish her sentence because standing before her were two corporeal ghosts.

Vanya grabs Klaus’s arm in fear and she looks at one of the ghosts closer.

“H-Helen?” She asks, recognizing her fellow orchestra member that had gone missing days ago.

“Hello, Vanya.” Helen Cho says cooly despite clearly being dead.

Vanya lets out a scream and grips tighter to Klaus’s arm, practically hiding behind him who in turn is half behind Dave.

“Harold Jenkins is my son and he’s been tricking you all.” The man says angrily, finally proving it to Vanya.

Harold runs back in the room with his jacket in hand.

“I heard you scream are you ok?” He asks. Harold notices the two ghosts in the room and he lets out a similar scream to Vanya’s. “This isn’t happening.” He mutters under his breath.

Once the initial shock had worn off and Harold finally registered who was doing this he turned to look at Klaus with an angry expression on his face.

“You’ve ruined everything!” He shouts before lunging at Klaus.

Not having enough time to react, Harold swings at Klaus’s nose and all Klaus can register is that he was now on the ground and that his nose hurt pretty bad.

Dave was having none of that and launched himself at Harold.

Vanya was screaming for everyone to stop fighting all the while crouching next to Klaus on the floor and holding him against her.

Almost instantly the energy of the room felt different and it was like being in a wind tunnel despite being inside.

Allison, Luther, Diego and now Five rushed into the entryway to see what all the commotion was about.

What they saw was Vanya and Klaus on the ground with Klaus holding a bloody nose and Vanya screaming, Dave beating up the guy Vanya had brought with her and two mutilated ghosts standing off to the side.

Luther went for Dave while Diego went for Harold as they held the two apart from each other.

Allison and Five went over to Vanya and Klaus and helped the two up off the floor.

The wind dies down but the energy stays and everyone notices it now.

“What happened here?” Allison asks, incredibly confused.

“Leonard isn’t who he says he is,” Klaus says. “His real name is Harold Jenkins and he killed those two over there. They’re ghosts.” Just like that, they disappear after everyone gets a good look at them.

“Oh my god, the world is saved.” Five smiles and shakes his head in disbelief.

“She’s going to be the end of you all! Her powers are stronger than all of you!” Harold shouts from where Diego is holding him back.

Luther let go of Dave and he rushed over to Klaus to check him over.

"Klaus, Darlin', are you ok?" Dave asked worriedly, brushing Klaus's hair back off of his forehead to get a better look at his face.

Klaus smiled. "I'm fine Davey baby." He leaned in close to kiss Dave's lips leaving behind a small smear of blood on Dave's cheek. "Thank you."

“What is he talkin’ about?” Diego asks in reference to Harold but no one has an answer for him.

Pogo walks into the hallway and quickly assesses the situation. He notices Diego preventing Harold from leaving and he motions to Diego.

“Bring him this way.” Pogo starts down the hallway and Diego follows all the while Harold screams about things no one understands at the moment.

Dave helps Klaus up from the floor while Kalus holds his hand under his nose as it continues to bleed.

“Klaus!” Allison gasps at the sight of her brother. “Bring him to the living room, Vanya and I will go get something to help with the bleeding.”

“I’ll go get a towel.” Vanya nods and follows Allison out of the room.

Dave follows the rest of the Hargreeves siblings to the living room while guiding Klaus alongside him.

“Sit him on the couch.” Five flashed over to the couch he was talking about.

Dave follows his instruction.

“I’m fine, guys. Seriously.” Klaus chuckles halfheartedly.

"No you're not dumbass." Ben said, rolling his eyes. He sits down in one of the chairs nearby.

"No you're not you dumbass." Dave said through a strained chuckle.

"See." Ben said pointedly. "I knew I liked that guy."

Klaus rolled his eyes at Ben and stuck his tongue out at him which was returned with a snort.

Vanya rushes into the room and hands Klaus the towel.

“Sit up straight and tilt your head forward slightly Klaus dear.” A new voice enters the room and they all turn to see Grace and Allison.

Grace repositions Klaus’s head when he leans too far forward. She then looks at Dave with a confused expression.

“Mom this is Dave.” Klaus says when he notices her confusion. “My boyfriend.”

“Well Dave take a seat and I’ll fix you up too.” Grace instructs with a smile.

"Thank you very much ma'am." Dave thanked Grace nervously.

Allison sets down the first aid kit she carried in and then takes a seat. Luther, Five and Vanya do the same. Five pulls Delores out of seemingly nowhere and wraps an arm around her.

While Grace cleans Dave’s face Klaus pulls back the towel to see if his nose has stopped bleeding.

“Gah, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve broken my nose.” Klaus chuckles and grabs one of Dave's nervously fidgeting hands.

"That's right!" Dave says. "Didn't you break it in your fight with Eddie?" He asks.

"Yeah, I did." Klaus smiles. "He smashed my face right into the ground. I did end up breaking his nose too in that same fight! And despite you trying to nurse me back to health I don't think it healed correctly." Klaus touched the side of his nose gently and winced at the slight sting.

"Hey! I was a great nurse!" Dave joked, less nervous than before.

"You were wonderful, Davey." Klaus leaned over to Dave to press a kiss to his cheek. Dave's whole face breaks out in a blush that spreads down his neck.

Ben makes a face. "Gross!"

Diego walks back in the room alone.

"Not to interrupt… Whatever this is, but we need to talk about what just happened not even five minutes ago." Five interrupts.

“I just… I’m having trouble understanding how you knew that Leonard- Harold was lying to me.” Vanya says to Klaus.

“The ghosts.” Is all Klaus says. Now that the attention was turned over to him and his powers, he was uncomfortable.

Klaus takes the hand he was holding and maneuvers it so Dave's arm was wrapped around him so he could feel safer.

“But how did you make them… Real?” Allison asked. “You’ve never been able to do that before. And do they always look like… That?” She said in reference to their mutilated forms.

Klaus sighs. “I have, actually. I just… They always scared me and I never wanted them to be too real so I shoved them down.” Klaus brought his knees up to his chest and Dave held him tighter. “And yeah. They always look like that. Sometimes worse.”

“Is that why you-” Diego cuts himself off in his realization. “The drinking and the drugs?” He was furious now.

“I’m not proud of it.” Klaus mumbled and refused to make eye contact with anyone.

Diego storms out of the room and there is a loud bang against a wall that made Klaus flinch before he marches right back in rubbing his knuckles indicating that there was probably a hole in some wall now.

“Diego dear, that was unnecessary.” Grace had finished cleaning Dave up and walked over to Diego to look at his hand.

“Klaus, you could have talked to one of us.” Allison said softly.

“Could I have, though? Vanya would think I’m crazy, Five wasn’t here, Allison you’re always busy and refuse to acknowledge my existence half the time, Diego gave up on me and Luther fucking hates me!” Klaus exclaimed.

The siblings began talking over each other in disagreement.

Dave spoke up. "I know we don't know each other but Klaus has told me enough about you all for me to know that you guys aren't exactly the, sit down and talk something out rationally, kind of family."

Unfortunately that was spot on so no one else could say anything to defend themselves further.

“I don’t… Klaus, I don’t hate you.” Luther spoke up and attention turned to him. His face was filled with genuine worry. How could his brother think that he would hate him?

“Really? Because in the time I’ve been in this house with you today you’ve not only insulted me but my boyfriend as well. And as far as I’m aware none of you even noticed that I was missing for a whole fucking day!” Klaus was now shouting.

“Klaus, sweetheart, please use your inside voice.” Grace’s motherly programming was really killing him right now.

By the confused looks on everyone’s faces Klaus could tell that, yes, no one had noticed that he had been gone.

"I noticed, if that counts for anything." Ben piped in.

Klaus felt something warm drip down from his nose and he tasted blood. Dave guided the towel back up to his nose and Klaus took hold of it himself. In his anger his nose had begun to bleed again.

"Klaus," Vanya began, "are you ok?" She was calm but concerned.

That right there was the straw that broke the camel's back. Tears started to form in his eyes but Klaus refused to let them fall. He couldn't let them see him that weak.

"Yes." He wasn't. "I'm completely one hundred percent ok." Not even close.

"Klaus." Dave whispered, knowing that wasn't the truth.

Ben groaned. "Come on man no you're not. They're all here for you and they're ready to listen. This isn't therapy and this isn't a support group but they're all here and supporting you. Be honest!" He shouted.

Vanya looked at Allison and then stood up. She walked over to Klaus, sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.

Klaus closed his eyes at the feeling and the tears fell, he had forgotten what it was like to be hugged by his sister. It had been years.

Allison walked behind the couch and held them both from behind.

Dave squeezed Klaus's waist and rubbed comforting circles with his fingers into his boyfriend's side.

No longer holding the towel against his nose, Klaus's free hand went up to hold the dog tags around his neck in a death grip.

"Well!" Five broke the moment with a clap.

Allison stood up and moved to sit on the couch's armrest and Vanya released Klaus but instead of pulling away she linked arms with him and leaned into her brother's side.

Once Five had everyone’s full attention he smugly lounged back in his seat.

“On an extremely important note, we may not have to worry too much about the end of the world after all.” Five says with a smirk on his face. He slung his arm around Delores's shoulders.

“What!?” Everyone exclaims.

“And after I called the family meeting and told them we all died!?” Luther’s voice boomed making Klaus and Vanya both flinch.

Klaus was used to getting shouted at by Sarge and other superiors in the military but Luther’s harsh voice would always have an effect on him.

“Relax.” Five narrowed his eyes at Luther noticing the shift from his brother and sister. “It’s only been prevented for…” Five looks at his wrist for a watch he wasn’t wearing. “Twelve minutes now?”

“What!?” Everyone shouts again.

“Yes. I visited the Commision to work out a deal with the Commissioner and in the process found out the name of the person who I have reason to believe starts the whole damn thing. Harold Jenkins.” Five explains. “And just for some context, this is not the first time you’ve lived through this day. I had to go back in time after I set off grenades in the Commision just to save myself.”

Everyone looked at Five confused.

“Is that why he was going by a fake name? Because the Commission was after him?” Allison asked.

“Although I don’t know much about Harold Jenkins, I know for certain that he was not hunted by the Commision. If anything he was being protected by them, so I am uncertain as to why he used a fake name.” Five answered.

“He killed his father.” Klaus piped in. “You don’t really want to use your real name after doing something like that. Most likely he changed his name in prison if he was arrested.” He shrugged.

“Why do you know that?” Dave asked.

“I have a lot of weird friends.” Klaus shrugged.

“Well thanks to Klaus’s soberness and the resurfacing of his powers we may have stopped the apocalypse.” Five actually smiled at Klaus.

“Me!?” Klaus exclaimed.

"Klaus!?" Everybody else shouted.

Not once in his life had Klaus ever prevented anything let alone the fucking apocalypse!

“Indeed.” Five nods at him.

“You’re sober?” Diego asked. “I just saw you a couple days ago drunk as shit and high off your ass at Dad’s funeral. In fact, when we were in the car together after that you told me you had put your weed out in Dad’s ashes!” He exclaimed.

“You what!?” Luther shouted.

“Klaus…” Dave sighed.

“Hey! I’m a different man now!” Klaus tried to defend himself.

"And it was hilarious! My favorite part was when my statue's head got knocked off." Ben laughed to himself in his chair.

“It’s true.” Five agreed with him. “Klaus time traveled.”

Klaus let out a groan, "Do you know how to keep a secret, motherfucker?"

"Klaus be nice to your brother." Dave quickly scolded Klaus.

Even though Five was older than he looked it was still taking a second for Dave's brain to work out that he, in fact, was not a child in need of defending.

“Is there anything else you’re forgetting to tell us, Klaus?” Luther’s teeth were gritted together in annoyance.

Klaus rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Yeah. After the Commision broke in they kidnapped me and tried to torture me for information. But unlucky for them, I’m the one person in this house that no one tells anything to.” Klaus puffed his cheeks out in annoyance.

“Anyways, I stole their briefcase and thought I could get some money for it but instead it made me time travel back to 1968, Vietnam. That’s where I met Davey here.” Klaus smiled at his boyfriend. “We served in the war together.”

Dave kisses Klaus's forehead.

“You were in the war? H-How long were you gone?” Vanya asked. Her brother? Her peace advocating brother, in a war? He had seemed different today and it made sense.

“Oh! That reminds me, I’m ten whole months older than you guys now! And seven months sober!” Klaus stated proudly.

Diego walked behind the couch and put Klaus in a loose headlock and gave him a noogie.

“There you go bro!” Diego exclaimed. "I knew you could get sober!"

“God dammit Diego, my hair!” Klaus pouted and tried to fight his brother off while Dave laughed at them from beside him.

Pogo walked in the room alone and no one dared to ask about Harold.

"I suppose," Pogo began, "That it is time that we reveal some truths to you children."

Everyone, now sitting, gave Pogo their full attention.

Pogo let out a sigh before beginning. “You wouldn’t know this but your mother was a robot-” He was cut off by Klaus’s gasp.

“Oh my god! A robot? Nobody. Tell. Diego.” Klaus faked shock.

Diego leaned over and smacked him upside the head.

"Ow, fuck!" Klaus cried out in pain.

Pogo gave Klaus a look, silently asking if he was done interrupting. When he was sure that he was, Pogo continued.

“Your mother was a robot designed to specifically care for Miss. Vanya and her powers.” Pogo stopped talking to allow the freakout that would most likely follow.

Indeed, everyone did begin to talk over each other.

“I have powers?” Vanya asked.

“Why didn’t we know about this from the beginning?” Luther asked.

“Why are you keeping so many secrets from us?” Diego clenched his teeth and fists.

“Sweet!” Klaus exclaimed and wrapped his shocked sister in a hug.

“Dad’s the literal worst is this really a surprise?” Ben said and rolled his eyes, not that anyone but Klaus could see and hear him.

“Why hasn’t Vanya been showing signs of having powers?” Five asked.

“If she had powers then why did Dad exclude her from the academy?” Allison asked.

Pogo regained control of the conversation with a quick clearing of his throat.

“I will answer your questions as I explain more.” Pogo says.

“Miss. Vanya, you do indeed have powers. According to Mr. Hargreeves you are one of if not the most powerful in the academy.” Pogo began and everyone was shocked.

“From a young age when you children were developing your powers, Miss. Vanya’s were always the most powerful and dangerous. We hired nannies to watch over you all but Miss. Vanya used her powers on them and they unfortunately died. To fix this issue Grace came into our lives. She was able to withstand Miss. Vanya’s powers and you all adopted her as your mother.” Pogo explains.

“I killed people?” Vanya asked softly.

Allison was quick to reassure her sister. “You were just a child who didn’t know any better. It’s not your fault.” She grabs Vanya’s hand.

Although it didn’t ease Vanya’s mind, it did make her feel a little better having comfort and support from her siblings.

Pogo continues. “It wasn’t until years later that Mr. Hargreeves decided that you were a danger to yourself and everyone else. There… There is a room in the house that was used to, erhm, contain you Miss. Vanya.” Pogo says regretfully. “You would be put in the room for days at a time and we would tell the other children that you were extremely sick and needed to be kept away from everyone else.”

“I remember that.” Diego says. “Dad would tell us that you were sick and we couldn’t come see you. But that doesn’t explain why we didn’t remember Vanya had powers to begin with.”

Something washes over Vanya’s face and she seems lost in her own mind.

“I think I remember that room. I remember hating it so much because I wasn’t allowed to leave.” Vanya says, still lost in her head. “Dad gave me lots of medications that made me really sick.”

“Yes, I am getting to that part.” Pogo nods. “During those times Mr. Hargreeves was testing out different medications that would suppress your powers. Many of the versions did make you very sick, that is true, but once he found something that worked he told Miss. Allison to rumor you, your siblings and herself to make you think that you were ordinary.”

Allison gasped, horrified.

“Vanya, I am so sorry.” Allison’s face was filled with sadness and worry.

Vanya didn’t feel resentment towards her sister. She repeated Allison’s words from earlier. “You were just a child who didn’t know any better. It’s not your fault.” Vanya gave Allison a small smile.

“Mr. Hargreeves passed this off as your current anxiety medication and paid a lab to produce this new medication for him so you would be able to, when you were older, pick it up from a pharmacy like any other pill and not be suspicious about it. I truly think that Mr. Hargreeves meant to keep your powers a secret forever but events that I witnessed earlier prove to me that Miss. Vanya’s powers are returning.” Pogo explains. “Have you stopped taking your medication?”

“It’s the strangest thing, I had a half full bottle in my bag but then the next day it was empty and my refill was nowhere to be found so I was forced to go without since I couldn’t get the prescription refilled for a few more weeks. This all happened around the same time that I met… Harold.” Vanya realizes. "Oh."

Pogo shakes his head. “It is unethical to ask that you begin taking them again as you’ve been going without but you must learn how to control it, do you understand?”

“What exactly are her powers?” Klaus asked.

“Miss. Vanya is able to control sound waves and use them for telekinesis and sound projection.” Pogo explained.

“Was that the wind we felt in the hallway earlier?” Dave asked.

“Indeed but excuse my asking, who are you?” Pogo asked.

“My name is Dave, Sir.” Dave introduced himself.

“My boyfriend!” Klaus added happily.

“Right.” Pogo nods. “I think this is all we will talk about for now unless anyone has further questions?” No one else had anything to say or ask so the subject was dropped in order to let it sink in.

Klaus was surprised when Grace walked in the room, he hadn’t even seen her leave!

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything but I’ve brought the mail.” Grace smiles and hands everyone but Klaus and Dave a letter. Grace handed one to Pogo to open that was addressed to both her and him. She held one in her hand with a confused expression on her face.

“Oh shit.” Klaus said quietly. These were his Vietnam letters and they sure did look more aged than when he last saw them.

“Awe, Klaus! Are these the letters you wrote?” Dave asked excitedly.

“Shut up!” Klaus tried to shush Dave.

“Klaus? What is this?” Allison asked, holding up her unopened letter having heard what her brother said to Dave only seconds prior.

When Klaus didn’t say anything Dave piped in for him.

“In Vietnam I made Klaus write you all letters.” Dave wrapped his arm around Klaus’s shoulder and pulled him close, feeling quite brave in this comfortable environment. “I thought it would help him through some stuff if he wrote it down and talked it out but little did I know that you guys wouldn’t get your letters until right now.” Dave chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“I specifically told you that they wouldn’t respond!” Klaus pouted. “You don’t have to read them, they aren’t that special.” Klaus told his siblings, half hoping that they didn't read them.

Diego made eye contact with Klaus as he broke the seal on the envelope. Everyone soon followed.

"There is now way in hell that I'm not reading this letter Klaus." Diego said and began to read his letter.

Klaus sighed and leaned into Dave for a little bit of comfort for the embarrassment and confusion that would definitely follow.

"If y'all are going to read them at least read them in order. Or don't, I don't really care. I wrote them in number order one to seven." Klaus explained.

Attention turned to Luther as he read his letter to the group.

_'But! In the case of my death -- please check some army records for me on that, haven’t decided if I feel like dying here. It’s not in the schedule but I can always make room for it -- find my whole stash and then you, Diego and Five are to smoke it in my honor. One last bros night out, just for me. I’m sure Ben will be hanging around with y’all so he won’t be missing out I assure you.'_

"Klaus? You wanted us to smoke your stash if you died?" Luther asked, eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Klaus!" Dave turned to Klaus in surprise.

"I lived bitch!" Klaus exclaimed.

Diego went next.

_'Please dump my entire stash, I won’t be needing it anymore. I got me a mans to seduce.’_

Diego let out a chuckle. "Nice job 'seducing your mans', bro."

Dave's entire face and neck went red in embarrassment.

Allison read hers.

_'Will I regret not coming back to 2019? No. But will I have regrets? Yeah, definitely. Like the fact that I never got to meet lovely little Claire. I hope she grows up to be just the lady that you are. You always were the most fashion forward and I owe it all to you that I can be as fabulous as I am._

_P.S._  
_I definitely did steal your skirt.’_

"I would love for you all to meet Claire!" Allison exclaims after she reads the letter. "And Klaus, I will be wanting that skirt back "

"You will have to fight me for it!" Klaus exclaimed.

Five cleared his throat and began to read.

_'I’m just here to tell you that that isn’t what I want. I want to stay in the past with my hot boyfriend and adopt like seven cats and maybe a dog. I want chickens! Oh that would be so neat! I’ll be sure to name one after you!_

_I’ll definitely have to name one after everybody. I’ll be like Opera! But to chickens! It’ll be great I promise. I’ll be like, “You get corn, and you get some corn. Everyone gets corn!” And they’ll be like, “Bawk bawk bitch.”'_

"Don't you dare name a chicken after me." Five scowls and tried not to let everyone see him give a small smile.

"Too late." Klaus stuck his tongue out at Five who only rolled his eyes.

Vanya goes next.

_‘Vanya!!!_

_My love! My light! Oh how I’ve missed you my Dear! I miss your violin so much and I really want to go to your next concert because I feel bad that I’ve never been to one before. The ones you held when we were young hardly count because I want to see you on a stage with the spotlights and I want to dress up all nice!'_

"On a lighter note, I actually came to invite you all to my concert. I'm first chair violin in my orchestra. Dave, you're invited too!" Vanya smiles and her eyes sparkle.

Excited chatter filled the room about Vanya's achievement.

"Do I get a letter?" Ben asked.

Klaus looks around the room until he sees one last letter in Grace's hands.

"Hey mom? Is that Ben's letter?" Klaus asked.

Grace looks at the letter in her hands and nods.

"Why yes it is Dear." Grace smiles.

"Who wants to see some cool shit!" Klaus exclaims.

Ben's eyes go wide at the realization of what is about to happen.

Klaus stands up off the couch and cracks his knuckles, rolls his head back and closes his eyes mostly for show.

Klaus focuses his energy towards Ben and he feels his hands get colder as they turn blue.

Ben manifests in the chair he was sitting in and he gives his siblings a smile and a small wave.

"Ben!?" Everyone but Klaus and Dave shouts.

"Hey." Ben says awkwardly. He may see them every time Klaus was in the house but that didn't mean he knew how to actually talk to them, he was dead.

Luther stood shocked, Diego, Allison and Vanya got up to greet their brother properly, Five seemed to be processing what was happening but seemed happy and Grace looked like she was close to malfunctioning.

Pogo, on the other hand, only nodded to himself.

"Well, Master Klaus, I am happy to see you sober and able to control your powers." He smiles at Klaus. "Your father would have been proud."

Klaus scoffs loudly. "Oh I can tell you right now that he's not. Told me himself last time I saw him. He did give me the nicest shave though…" He trailed off to look at Dave and rub his own face to prove it.

Grace seemed to snap out of whatever programming errors she was working through and walked over to her dead son.

"Here you go Dear." Grace smiled and looked like if she could cry she would. She handed Ben his letter and he was able to take it in his corporeal hands. Grace patted his head and he seemed to thrive from his mother's touch.

Ben, enjoying the feeling of being able to touch something again, ripped his letter open and began to read.

_‘Benny!_

_You’re going to be really proud of me when I tell you that… (Let the suspense build for a second) I’m sober! I’ve missed you man, how’ve you been?_

_Shit, can ghosts get mail? Maybe I should address this to Five or someone so they can read it out loud because I’m assuming you’ll be hanging around them since I’m gone. Sorry about that man._

_They never believed me when I said that I could see you. Just assumed that I was begging for attention after you died._

_It’s just like the time when Daddy Dearest saw me in Grace’s heels and pushed me down the stairs and I needed to have my jaw wired shut for eight weeks. After I could talk again it had been too long and everyone just claimed I was begging for attention and that Dad would never do something like that. You were the only one who believed me, thank you for that by the way._

_Anyways… I’ve fallen in love! For real this time, I promise. His name is Dave and I’ve drawn you a picture of him so you can see what he looks like. Handsome, am I right or am I right? He doesn’t do drugs -- just the occasional joint but everyone does that here -- and he helped me get sober. I think you’d really like him._

_Maybe we could meet up in the afterlife? That would be really cool. Except you probably wouldn’t even recognize me because I’ll be all wrinkly and old! But I’m looking forward to the day when I can see you again. Maybe us two ghosties can finally go see a movie. We wouldn’t even have to pay we could just walk right on in!_

_Your human Ouija Board,_  
_Klaustration_

_P.S._  
_I still think that ‘Bentacles’ is a great nickname and you can’t tell me otherwise.’_

"Klaus," Luther hesitantly spoke, "I'm… I'm so sorry I didn't believe you when you told us you could see Ben. Or when you said Dad… Pushed you down the stairs. That… We should have stood by you."

This was the first time Klaus had ever heard Luther apologize to him for anything.

Everyone else agreed and apologized to Klaus.

"Thank you all." Klaus smiles at Luther first and then everyone else.

Ben looked over at his brother, his best friend, and smiled. "I'm so proud of you."

Klaus's face twitched slightly as if he may cry. "Stop! You're not allowed to be all dramatic! That's my job!"

Klaus covered his face with his hands and Dave rubbed Klaus's back.

When Klaus let out a hitched breath Ben wavered and his letter fell through his hand as he became half corporeal.

"Ben!" Five, of all people in the room, shouted in a panic.

Honestly it was understandable. You get to see your dead brother in person for the first time in years, and even longer for Five, you may feel a bit panicked if he started to disappear because what if you never got to see him again?

Klaus looked up at his brother's panicked shout and wiped his face.

"Shit, sorry guys. Still getting used to this." Klaus sniffled and refocused on Ben to bring him back fully.

Ben stood up and so did Klaus and they hugged for the first time in years. They felt more arms around them as Vanya, then Dave, Allison, Diego, Five, Grace, Pogo and even Luther joined in.

Maybe, just maybe, things would be alright after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Remember me? I'm still here! So, funny story, I got about halfway through writing this chapter months ago and then I got dumped so then I was sad and wasn't feeling relationship stuff anymore. Not saying I wasn't expecting it or anything but it did throw me for a loop. I'm feeling better now and I made this pretty long because I had a lot to get through. That guy wasn't worth getting upset over and I realize now that it was kinda toxic so it's all for the best. Have a nice day y'all! Also how about season 2? July 31st! That trailer was AMAZING!


End file.
